Christina Applegate’s MS journey reveals the challenge of misdiagnosis
www.scientificamerican.com
The Emmy Award–winning actress revealed that a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021 was incorrect. It’s a surprisingly common experience, experts say

Her experience, while not the norm, is far from unusual, experts say.

Applegate disclosed the revelation on an episode of her podcast with Jamie Lynn Sigler, MeSsy, which centers on their lives with MS. (Sigler disclosed that she has relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, or RRMS, in 2016.) “In January of 2021, I had numbness in my toes, and that numbness grew to all of my legs,” Applegate recalled on the podcast. “And then the pain started.”

  • guycls@lemmy.world
    281·
    19 hours ago

    After rounds of tests for a variety of conditions, her doctor found “almost 40” lesions on her brain and diagnosed her with MS, she said.

    Now, five years later, Applegate said that, after analyzing brain scans with a “new technology,” her doctor told her she doesn’t have MS.

    • wjrii@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      10 hours ago

      Estimates vary, but a recent meta-analysis found that around 15 percent of MS cases across studies were misdiagnoses.

      Diagnostic tools are getting better. In 2025 the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in Multiple Sclerosis updated its guidelines on how to diagnose MS to reflect recent advancements…

      • wjrii@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        10 hours ago
        • Patient diagnosed ~5 years ago.
        • Disease presents similarly to several neurological disorders and has a known misdiagnosis rate between 5 and 20 percent (15% for the study mentioned in the article).
        • Disease has seen developments in imaging and interpretation since original diagnosis.
        • Prominent person announces they were misdiagnosed, but the symptoms persist.