Christina Applegate has been on our screens since she was a youngster, dominating TV, movies, and even Broadway. However, she is currently confronting a different type of issue, one that has had a significant impact on her health and quality of life. The Dead to Me star is battling multiple sclerosis, as she originally announced in August 2021.
Here’s everything we know about Christina Applegate’s health issues.
What’s Wrong With Christina Applegate?
Christina Applegate tweeted in August 2021 that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She wrote: “Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. 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.”
Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. 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.
— christina applegate (@1capplegate) August 10, 2021
This was not Applegate’s first experience with a significant medical ailment. In 2008, the actress was diagnosed with breast cancer. Though the disease was only discovered in her left breast, she chose to have a double mastectomy and later have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed after learning she had the BRCA1 genetic mutation, which increases the risk of both breast and ovarian cancer in carriers.
What is Christina Applegate’s Health Status?
Christina Applegate has multiple sclerosis. As a result, her life has been significantly changed. In a 2022 interview with Kelly Clarkson, Applegate openly described the moment she was diagnosed with MS, saying, “It sucked balls.”
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When Did Christina Applegate Get Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis?
Christina Applegate publicly stated that she had been diagnosed with MS in August 2021, noting that she had received the diagnosis a few months before. Applegate received the terrible news while filming the third and final season of her Netflix comedy Dead to Me.
“I found out on a Monday after work that I had MS, a disease I’m gonna have for the rest of my life,” she said. “… I didn’t know what was happening to me. I couldn’t walk. They had to use a wheelchair to get me to set. I was freaking out. Someone was like, ‘You need an MRI.'”
The show was paused during production to allow Applegate to undergo treatment for the disease, but she later returned to continue filming.
What Causes Multiple Sclerosis?
Currently, the medical profession does not know what causes multiple sclerosis. It is classified as an “immune-mediated disease” and mostly affects the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). MS causes a patient’s immune system to attack its own tissue, specifically the fatty substance that coats and protects nerve fibers (myelin) in the spine and brain.
When the myelin is broken, exposing the nerve fiber, the messages that go through that conduit might become slowed or obstructed, resulting in a variety of potentially debilitating symptoms. Multiple sclerosis can permanently damage or deteriorate nerve fibers.
At present, researchers believe that the reason MS affects some people but not others is due to a combination of hereditary and environmental factors. People with a family history of MS are more likely to develop the condition.
Has Christina Applegate Retired From Acting Due to Multiple Sclerosis?
Christina Applegate said in 2023 that she would most certainly retire from on-camera work after finishing filming Netflix’s Dead to Me. The actress stated, “I’m probably not going to work on-camera again.”
She went on to laud her Dead to Me co-star, Linda Cardellini. “Ping-pong is so much more fun when the other person is just as good as you are. I’m so glad that I went out with someone who is by far the greatest actress I’ve ever worked with in my entire life, if not the greatest human I’ve ever known.”
Applegate stated, “[My Dead to Me Character] Jen Harding is … quite possibly the last I’ll play. With my disease, I don’t know how capable I am. But this was a gift.”
However, she did go on to participate in an online table read of It’s a Wonderful Life in December 2022, raising the prospect that she could be able to continue working in the industry in some capacity.
She has hinted that she would be willing to work more behind the scenes. “I’m pretty convinced that this was it, you know? But who knows—I’m probably gonna get real bored of being in my room. I’d like to develop stuff, I’d like to produce stuff. I’ve got a lot of ideas in my mind, and I just need to get them executed.”
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What Has Christina Applegate Recently Revealed About Her Health?
Christina Applegate has been open about her daily hardships as a result of her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. In 2023, the actress stated, “With the disease of MS, it’s never a good day. You just have little shitty days. People are like, ‘Well, why don’t you take more showers?’ Well, because getting in the shower is frightening. You can fall, you can slip, your legs can buckle. Especially because I have a glass shower. It’s frightening to me to get in there.”
She went on, “There are just certain things that people take for granted in their lives that I took for granted. Going down the stairs, carrying things—you can’t do that anymore. It f—ing sucks.”
In addition, Applegate should keep her social group small. “I actually don’t want to be around a lot of people because I’m immunocompromised. I have my friend who lives here during the week and she helps me take care of [my daughter] Sadie. And then on the weekend I have a caretaker. I also don’t want a lot of stimulation of the nervous system because it can be a little bit too much for me. I like to keep it as quiet and as mellow as possible.”
