Christina Applegate says doctor told her she does not have multiple sclerosis

Actor Christina Applegate, who has spoken openly about living with multiple sclerosis since 2021, said her doctor has now concluded she never had the disease.

Applegate discussed the development on "MeSsy," a podcast she co-hosts with fellow actor Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who has MS herself. The Associated Press, whose story ran in the Baltimore Banner, WKOW and PBS NewsHour, reported that the episode was released Monday. CNN, in a story published by WISH-TV, put the date at Tuesday.

The revised diagnosis has not brought any physical relief. The AP reported that Applegate said she continues to experience every symptom typical of MS and relies on a wheelchair to move from her car to an exam room. According to CNN, she told Sigler her condition has gotten worse rather than better.

"I'm back at square one where I don't know what's going on with me," Applegate said, as reported by the AP and CNN.

CNN reported that the finding followed recent tests that relied on new technology. Applegate grew emotional recalling the conversation with her doctor and said she felt no joy at the news, even though people around her were pleased, CNN reported. The outlet also said the episode was her first back on the show after seven months in which Sigler ran it by herself as Applegate's health worsened. Her medical team is still trying to pin down what is behind her symptoms, according to CNN.

Applegate said the news was difficult to process because of her visibility as an MS advocate. "It's weird because I feel like I let everybody down," she said, according to the AP.

In MS, the body's immune defenses damage cells within the brain and spinal cord. The AP noted that doctors have no one definitive test for the condition and generally reach a diagnosis by eliminating other explanations, which can stretch over years.

The reports cite different figures on how frequently MS is wrongly diagnosed. Dr. Benjamin Greenberg, a neurologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, told the AP that the strongest research puts the figure near 10%. He said an early MS label can sway other clinicians who review a case later, and he advised patients given serious diagnoses to get additional opinions. CNN pointed to research from two academic centers showing that close to 20% of referred patients labeled with MS fell short of the standards used to identify it. Dr. Marwa Kaisey of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a co-author of that research, joined the podcast and said some patients had taken MS drugs for years before learning they had been misdiagnosed.

CNN reported that Applegate's declining health forced her to step away from the Netflix show "Dead to Me," whose final season aired in November 2022. She has also described her symptoms in her memoir, "You with the Sad Eyes."

Compiled by True News from reporting by Baltimore Banner, WKOW, PBS NewsHour and WISH-TV. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/299