Christina Applegate reveals multiple sclerosis diagnosis

Christina Applegate has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). The Dead to Me star made the announcement overnight on social media, revealing the health news to fans and then asking for privacy.

“Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS,” she wrote on Twitter early on August 10. “It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some asshole blocks it,” the 49-year-old continued.

“As one of my friends that has MS said ‘we wake up and take the indicated action.’ And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you xo.”

MS is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body’s own heathy cells, affecting the brain and spinal cord. In many cases, it is treatable, although a person’s quality of life can be impacted as the disease causes problems with body function, vision and balance. The cause of MS is unknown and there is no cure.

More than 2.3 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with the condition, with women 2-3 times more likely to develop it than men. Other celebrities including Selma Blair, Montel Williams, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Jack Osbourne have all opened up about living with their own MS diagnoses in the past.

This isn’t the first health scare Applegate has gone public with. In 2008, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and opted to undergo a double mastectomy rather than chemo treatment. She went on to set up a foundation, Right Action for Women, to encourage and finance forms of early breast cancer detection, including MRIs.

“I am a 36-year-old person with breast cancer, and not many people know that that happens to women my age or women in their 20s,” she said at the time. “This is my opportunity now to go out and fight as hard as I can for early detection.”

Applegate currently stars in Dead to Me alongside Linda Cardellini. The third and final season of the dark comedy about grief went back into production last May and was expected to wrap earlier this month. However, it’s unclear how Applegate’s health turn may have affected production.

Applegate has secured two Emmy nominations for her role as widow Jen Harding on the series, bringing her overall Emmy nods to seven. Previously, the actor was recognized for her leading role in the 2007-09 comedy Samantha Who? (in which she co-starred with Melissa McCarthy, Jean Smart and Jennifer Esposito). She was also nominated twice for her guest-starring role as Rachel’s sister Amy on Friends, taking home the trophy in 2003.

Our thoughts go out to Applegate and her family. 

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