“I have multiple sclerosis,” actress Christina Applegate, 49, wrote in her social profile and added that she is engaged in a new battle against a disease. The ‘Married with Kids’ star, who also appeared on ‘Friends’ playing Rachel’s sister, has previously undergone a mastectomy for breast cancer. She explained that the diagnosis came “a few months ago.”
“It has been a strange journey, but I have had a lot of support from people I know who suffer from this condition. It was tough, but as we all know we need to move on,” she writes. “I ask you to respect my privacy as I deal with this situation.”
Applegate’s The Sweetest Thing co-star Selma Blair, reality star Jack Osbourne, Sopranos fame Jamie-Lynn Sigler and talk show host Montel Williams are also known to have MS.
The disease affects more women than men as per the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Typically diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, MS is “an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body.” Applegate joins the estimated 2.3 million people living with the disease worldwide.
In 2009 Christina Applegate was was chosen as one of “People” magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People in the World.