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Topics: Saturday Night Live, Health, Celebrity
Actor and comedian Kenan Thompson has opened up about a recent health diagnosis which has left him 'suffering in silence'.
The 46-year-old, who is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, as well as being a child star on Nickelodeon shows All That and Kenan & Kel, revealed that he began to notice something wasn't quite right with his health after experiencing recurring heartburn while working.
His symptoms, which became noticeably worse after eating acidic foods, were frequent enough that it began to impact his work on SNL and left him struggling to get through the day.
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"I noticed that I would get hoarse a lot easier when I'm doing the show," Thompson explained in an interview with PEOPLE, adding that he'd begun to experience symptoms two years ago.
He continued: "[I was] losing my voice quicker, but also uncomfortable sleepless nights because I'm burping up acid, just kind of hiccuping all night.
"And that can definitely add more stress to an already stressful kind of environment doing a live show like that."
Thompson used various medications and remedies in an attempt to alleviate his symptoms, before eventually being forced to seek professional help.
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"It was a suffering-in-silence situation. I don't know if I was necessarily embarrassed to talk to a doctor - I just didn't know if I needed to," he added.
After a visit to the doctor, Thompson would be diagnosed with a condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Also referred to as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), the NHS explains that the condition occurs when stomach acid is able to enter into the oesophagus.
Symptoms include: heartburn, bad breath, bloating, nausea and difficulty swallowing.
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For Thompson, he's been able to get it under control thanks to the help of acid blockers and has now partnered with the campaign 'GERD IS NO JOKE' to raise awareness about the condition.
"I didn't know there was a real medical term for it," he said, adding: "I'm in a much healthier kind of space."
Meanwhile, Thompson, who's currently the longest-serving cast member on SNL, recently revealed that he wouldn't mind being a 'forever cast member' on the sketch show.
"I guess the only other milestone would be just to be the forever cast member. Just never leave the show," he told Entertainment Weekly when asked about his 22 seasons on the show.
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"Thirty [seasons] is like, okay, that's just another number kind of thing. Twenty was just such a thing that nobody had ever done."