Christina Applegate has multiple sclerosis: the top warning signs

“There’s never a good day with multiple sclerosis.” With these words, Christina Applegate describes her serious illness. The actress was now speaking to the „Vanity Fair“ about how she experiences her everyday life. Sometimes they asked people why they didn’t shower more often. The answer: “Well, because I’m scared to take a shower. you can fall you can slip You can slump.”

Diagnosis in 2021

Applegate is currently filming the third and final season of her Netflix series Dead to Me. Then comes the devastating diagnosis: multiple sclerosis, MS for short – an autoimmune disease that disrupts communication between the brain and body. That was in the summer of 2021.

Applegate, who many know as the spoiled blonde Kelly Bundy from the cult series “A Terribly Nice Family”, is not alone in her fate. Fellow actress Selma Blair calls her her “MS sister”. Blair also went public with her documentary and autobiography in 2022 and tells about life with multiple sclerosis, among other things. In Germany, for example, the SPD politicians Malu Dreyer and Katrin Gensecke give the disease a face. It affects more than 15,000 people in Germany every year.

Why MS is the disease of 1000 faces

The examples already make one thing clear: MS affects women twice as often as men. At the same time, suffering is considered a disease with 1000 faces. Because how severe the symptoms are, what symptoms occur and how much they affect everyday life is very individual.

“MS is different every day,” says Gensecke, a member of the state parliament. Sometimes she needs more support, sometimes less. An accompanying person can help her with driving or with appointments, for example.

Applegate also has companions for her life with multiple sclerosis. She posted a photo with several walking sticks on Twitter in October 2022. “Cuts are now part of my new normal,” she commented. She has a very important ceremony coming up, the artist continued. “My first time off since being diagnosed with MS.”

Symptoms: how multiple sclerosis manifests itself

Only in retrospect does Applegate recognize the signals her body was sending before the diagnosis. Her illness showed, for example, that she lost her balance in dance scenes or that her tennis game faltered. Over the years, the actress experienced tingling and numbness in her extremities with increasing frequency and severity. “I wish I had paid attention‘ Applegate says today. “But how should I know?”

It is very typical that the disease often begins in phases. As the German Multiple Sclerosis Society (DMSG) explains, motor disorders often occur at the beginning of MS:

• paralysis
• Visual disturbances with blurred or foggy vision as an expression of inflammation of the optic nerves
• Sensory disorders of the skin (“sensitivity disorders”), usually in the form of tingling, (painful) abnormal sensations or a feeling of numbness
• Unsteadiness when walking or grasping
• double vision
• bladder disorders
• “slurred” speech

“As the symptoms progress, the symptoms of paralysis are often associated with a feeling of stiffness (‘like lead on the legs’),” writes the DMSG. “This is called spasticity.” It mainly affects the legs. Bladder disorders can manifest themselves in the form of a frequent urge to urinate that cannot be easily controlled and even incontinence.

In addition, complaints can arise that are often not tangible. This includes:

• abnormal, premature exhaustion (the so-called fatigue),
• cognitive disorders,
• limitations in attention,
• memory and concentration,
• depressed moods and depression,
• Pains,
• dizziness as well
• sexual dysfunctions.

MS also changed Christina Applegate’s body. “This is the first time anyone will see me for who I am,” the actress said in an older US interview about the episodes of her Netflix series. “I’ve gained 18 kilos and can no longer walk without a cane. I want people to know that I’m aware of all this.”

Diagnosis: MS can be differentiated by means of neurological examinations

Due to the numerous, often non-specific symptoms, it often takes years to diagnose. There is also no clear marker in blood or cerebrospinal fluid or on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images. In this respect, it usually resembles a search for clues in which many other diseases are ruled out. Relapses that occur, their intervals and characteristics, as well as damage that can be seen in the brain MRI, provide indications.

Blair was diagnosed with the nervous system disorder in 2018 after decades of on-and-off pain. “I was overwhelmed with relief,” the actress writes of the diagnosis. “Now I had a treatment plan to follow. I had information. A name.”

So if you notice the symptoms described, you should have yourself checked neurologically. If MS is diagnosed early and treated quickly, it has a positive effect. Further flare-ups can be slowed down so that they no longer occur as severely and as often. Likewise, the deterioration of the state of health can be slowed down.

forms of multiple sclerosis

Experts divide multiple sclerosis into different subtypes. They differ in their course and in their characteristics, which is shown, among other things, by the stories of the prominent examples.

The MS is basically in three progressions assigned:

• relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)
• secondary progressive form (English: secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, SPMS)
• primary progressive form (English: primary progressive multiple sclerosis, PPMS)

Most of those affected initially develop the relapsing form they write Kliniken Köln on their website . And they go on to explain: “The occurrence of a clinical symptom that lasts longer than 24 hours is considered a flare-up. The patient can often live completely symptom-free between attacks.” The first attack is called clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) designated. Over the years, this form of MS slowly turns into a (secondary) progressive form above.

The first flare-ups usually occur in early adulthood (20 to 30 years). In rare cases, however, children or patients over 60 years of age can also suffer a first flare-up.

The neurology department differentiates from this: “The primarily chronic progressive form shows no relapsing deterioration, but a slow spread of various symptoms right from the start. In most cases, it only occurs after the age of 40 and is much less common (10 to 15 percent of cases).

Therapy: Drugs can relieve MS

Modern drugs can have a positive effect on the course of the disease. “Treatment with immunomodulatory drugs can reduce the frequency and severity of relapses and slow the progression of the disease,” writes the German Multiple Sclerosis Society. The treatment is basically based on three pillars:

• Therapy of the acute relapse
• Course modifying therapy
• Symptomatic therapy

Living with Multiple Sclerosis

Sometimes with more, sometimes with fewer restrictions – life with multiple sclerosis is possible. The Experts have very specific suggestions for this :

• Stay as active as possible without constantly overexerting yourself
• Focus on your own abilities and strengths, not on your shortcomings and limitations
• Be informed, acquire knowledge about the disease and current therapeutic options
• Develop confidence and take personal responsibility
• Define and accept individual performance limits
• Allowing grief over the loss of skills, but still looking ahead with optimism
• Compensate for lost skills – through technical aids, action and problem-solving strategies
• Discover hidden potential and redefine your self-image
• Set new goals in life. Ask for help when it is needed

Often painful on set, Applegate re-learned the limits of her body. She had difficulty walking down the stairs, a friend held her legs in some scenes, she arrived on location in a wheelchair. Some days she couldn’t work at all. The actress says that “completing the series was the hardest thing” she’s ever done. And yet she pulled through.

Katrin Gensecke has been suffering from multiple sclerosis for more than 25 years. Her illness has stabilized over the years, even though there are always difficult times.

Blair, the actress of “Cruel Intentions”, told the US radio station NPR something similar. In the meantime, she is doing better, also thanks to a stem cell transplant: “I’m in great shape, but I have permanent damage.” Among other things, you can tell by her voice, which sometimes blocks. Blair tells more about her eventful life in her autobiography, which she dedicated to her son. She wrote it primarily to encourage other people, especially those affected by multiple sclerosis, says Blair: “It’s never too late to regain control of things.”