Ever since Christina Applegate opened up about her multiple sclerosis diagnosis (MS), she has been candid with fans about the symptoms and challenges she has been experiencing living with the condition.
MS is a chronic autoimmune condition in which the body's immune system attacks the myelin sheath surrounding nerve fibres.
This can cause inflammation and damage, which leads to a vast array of symptoms.
There are also different types of MS, including relapsing-remitting (in which people have distinct attacks which come and go), secondary progressive MS (in which symptoms become steadily worse) and primary progressive (where symptoms get worse over time from the first initial sign rather than 'attacks').
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After adapting to life with the chronic condition, Applegate is now using her platform to spread awareness of the signs to look out for.
While being interviewed on SiriusXM's This Life of Mine with James Corden last year, Applegate discussed her experiences leading up to receiving the diagnosis and listed five 'weird symptoms' to look out for.
These included:
- Balance issues
- Speech issues
- Shaky hands
- Feeling weak at the knees (when walking, etc)
- Numb toes
But Applegate is far from the only celeb to open up about her MS diagnosis, as she joins several other stars who have revealed they also have the condition.
Which other celebrities have been diagnosed with MS?
Selma Blair
Blair was diagnosed with MS back in 2018 after Applegate urged her to get checked.
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The actress said at the time: "I have had symptoms for years but was never taken seriously until I fell down in front of him [neurologist Jason Berkley] trying to sort out what I thought was a pinched nerve."
“Since I had (my son, Arthur,), I’d been afflicted with MS and I didn’t know,” Blair told TODAY this year.
“I was diagnosed later. So, my fatigue was always the main issue.”
Blair is now doing much better, telling the outlet: “I’m so much happier. Yes. There are setbacks and my heart breaks when life goes off the rails. I was a sad person. I wanted joy and good things but I was living a lie because I didn’t know I was sick.”
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Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Sigler co-hosts Applegate's podcast and has also been diagnosed with MS.
However, she didn't speak publicly about her diagnosis until she was 34, despite being diagnosed 14 years earlier.
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"It hit me that I have this incredible responsibility now to represent a community that suffers in silence a lot of the time," she told PEOPLE.
She added to Healthline: “[I] think my initial reaction was fear and how do I protect myself with this, so I protected myself by not telling anyone and while that felt like the right thing to do at the time, in hindsight I was depriving myself of a support system and the care I think I needed.
“It’s been a journey for me and many iterations of how to deal with the disease."
Jack Osbourne
Osbourne was diagnosed with MS at the age of 26 back in 2012.
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The reality star received the diagnosis just three weeks after his daughter, Pearl, was born.
After losing vision in his right eye, Osbourne sought medical attention, which ultimately led to his diagnosis.
“The eye doctor sent me to the ER, and the ER was like, 'We need an MRI,' and then spinal taps and blood work and talking with neurologists,” Osbourne told Everyday Health.
“Come to find out, that wasn't my first exacerbation. About 18 months prior, my legs had gone numb, and it was all connected to the same thing.”
Joan Didion
Didion was a journalist and author living with MS, who also won a National Medal of Honour from President Obama.
She was diagnosed with MS in her thirties and was later diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Montel Williams
The Montel Williams Show aired from 1991 to 2008, but at the age of 43, Montel was diagnosed with MS after years of vision loss and pain.
Talking with Yahoo, he said: "After my second attempt at taking my own life, I recognised that I was going to not just live with this, I was going to figure out how, in some way, shape, or form, to turn this into something I can thrive at."
Noah “40” Shebib
The Grammy-award-winning producer and engineer for Drake was diagnosed with MS on his 22nd birthday.
Now 42, Shebib takes medication to suppress his symptoms, which include numbness and shaking.
Topics: Health, Christina Applegate, Life, News
Lucy Devine