If there’s one thing we know about Christina Applegate, it’s that she’s a survivor. The beloved star who has had one of the longest successful careers in Hollywood has gone public with her past health struggles after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and undergoing a double mastectomy. She also shared with fans in 2017 that she had her ovarian and fallopian tubes removed to reduce her cancer risks.
Now, more than a decade later, the 49-year-old actress took to Twitter to talk about her latest health concern, Multiple Sclerosis. “Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. It’s been a strange journey,” she wrote. “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 [a-hole] blocks it.”
Like Selma Blair, Jack Osbourne and Montel Williams before her, Applegate is the latest public figure to reveal that she’s struggling with the disease that somewhere between 400,000 and 1 million people in the United States are coping with. With MS, the body’s immune system attacks the nervous system and damages nerve fibers and the fatty substance that surrounds them. This damage causes scar tissue to develop and produces symptoms including numbness, fatigue, impaired mobility and vision problems.
For now, Applegate is urging her fans to respect her privacy as she navigates her way through the disease and her treatment options. “As one of my friends that has MS said, ‘we wake up and take the indicated action,’” she wrote in a follow-up Tweet. “And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you. XO.”
