Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian says he has received a diagnosis of Lyme disease, which came as a bit of a shock to him.
The Reddit co-founder, 41, explained his health situation in a series of posts on X/Twitter Tuesday, saying that doctors told him about the diagnosis after he underwent multiple medical procedures.
‘Doing a full battery of health scans, tests, etc, and found out I have lyme disease,’ said the tech entrepreneur, who is father to two children with the tennis icon. ‘Wild. No symptoms, thankfully, but gonna treat.’
Ohanian explained some of the intricate details behind his diagnosis: ‘Good cholesterol is too low. Bad cholesterol is just OK. Gotta work on that. On the plus-side: 822 ng/dL total + 162 ng/dL free testosterone.’
Ohanian said that while he has a family history linked to the ailment, he was caught off-guard by the diagnosis since he did not fall into the group that is typically exposed to the condition geographically.
Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian, 41, has received a diagnosis of Lyme disease, which came as a bit of a shock to him. Pictured at the ESPYs July 11 with daughter Olympia, six
‘I’ve got a loved one who had it a few years back, showed tons symptoms etc and just couldn’t figure it out until they tested him for it and then found it (treated it successfully, too),’ Ohanian said.
He added, ‘I spend so little time in the wilderness/northeast this was quite a surprise.’
Ohanian said he was ‘gonna grab some antibiotics’ to combat the ailment, adding, ‘Can’t keep me down, tick!’ with a picture of The Tick cartoon character.
Ohanian stressed to his 563,700 followers on the platform that he was in no way dispensing health advice to the masses in regard to Lyme disease.
‘Please talk to a doctor!’ he said. ‘Do not listen to me for any health advice!’
The Mayo Clinic describes Lyme disease as ‘an illness caused by borrelia bacteria,’ adding that ‘humans usually get Lyme disease from the bite of a tick carrying the bacteria.’
The clinic noted that while ‘ticks that can carry borrelia bacteria live throughout most of the United States,’ the ailment ‘is most common in the upper Midwest and the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states’ domestically, and ‘also common in Europe and in south central and southeastern Canada.’
People are at higher risk if they ‘spend time where the ticks live, such as grassy, brushy or wooded areas,’ and the best means of prevention ‘is to avoid tick bites when you are outdoors.’
The Reddit co-founder detailed his health issues in a series of posts on X/Twitter Tuesday
Ohanian is one of a number of prominent names who have publicly emerged about their health battles with Lyme disease.
Others include Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Yolanda Hadid and her daughter, model Bella Hadid; musical artist Justin Bieber; and comic Amy Schumer.
Ohanian and Williams – who are parents to two daughters, Olympia, six, and Adira River, 11 months – were at the ESPYs in Los Angeles last week, with Williams doing hosting duties.
The tennis superstar made headlines after she took a jab at NFL kicker Harrison Butker in the wake of a controversial graduation speech he gave May 11 at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, touching on sensitive topics ranging from abortion to Pride Month to women in the workforce.