Selena Gomez announced on Thursday that she had undergone a kidney transplant. She was diagnosed with lupus in 2015 which caused the superstar to become depressed and start having panic attacks, Due to her illness, Selena took time off from her music career. She also said that the transplant was something she had to do for her overall health.

A precious gift from a friend

Selena revealed that the donor was none other than her best friend Francia Raisa. They have been friends for a long time and this will only strengthen that bond. 29-year-old Francia is an actress who is best known for her role in the TV series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager".

She was the perfect donor as Francia and Selena share the same blood type and, she had no antibodies which would make the transplant inexecutable. Selena couldn't stop expressing her gratitude to her friend Raisa saying that she had sacrificed her kidney and given her the ultimate gift and said that she was blessed to have a friend like her. Fans were absolutely delighted with Francia's selfless act for her friend and swarmed on Instagram to thank her for donating the kidney. She also thanked her family and the team of doctors for everything they had done. Selena said that she was looking g forward to sharing her experiences in the past 7 months.

Fans were absolutely delighted with Francia's selfless act for her friend and swarmed on Instagram to thank her for donating the kidney.

She also thanked her family and the team of doctors for everything they had done. Selena said that she was looking g forward to sharing her experiences in the past seven months.

Is Lupus life threatening?

Selena's case definitely puts Lupus in headlines and created awareness among millions of people. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder in which the body’s immune system erroneously begins attacking healthy tissue.

In one particular case known as lupus nephritis, it attacks the kidneys which might lead to kidney failure and, can result in the death of the diagnosed patient. Dialysis is the common treatment for the disease but, it is very time-consuming as it takes at least 4 hours in each use and, the patients on dialysis reported fatigue and depression.

Another viable option is kidney transplant, Selena was lucky to have a friend who donated her extra kidney. It should be noted that the kidneys donated from a live person last much longer than that of a deceased one. Selena mentioned lupus in her post on Instagram which was viewed by millions of people, she stated that lupus continues to be misunderstood and, advised the people to visit the Lupus Research Alliance website for more information about the disease. This will create alertness in a large number of people about the disease which might be able to save lives in the future.