Arabic version: تحديث أبليغيت بشأن التصلب المتعدد يسلّط الضوء على عدم اليقين التشخيصي
According to The Guardian, Christina Applegate has revealed that her neurologist now believes she does not have multiple sclerosis, despite having spent five years publicly discussing her diagnosis. The Emmy award-winning actor has raised awareness through her memoir and the MS-themed podcast MeSsy, which she co-hosts with Jamie Lynn Sigler. Applegate has said the reassessment is not good news because she remains ill and is again searching for an explanation.
The report says medical experts interviewed about Applegate’s case stressed that most people treated for multiple sclerosis can remain confident in their diagnoses. They advised patients with concerns to speak with their neurologists about reassessment. However, a 2024 systematic review found that about 15% of the multiple sclerosis cases it studied were misdiagnosed. Women were twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with the disease when they did not have it, the review found.
Shakira Hussein, who wrote the Guardian commentary, said she was diagnosed with remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis 20 years ago after a prolonged period in which she had been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder. She said her physical health declined while panic attacks eased with cognitive behavioural therapy rather than prescribed antidepressants and antipsychotics. When her condition worsened, she sought another neurological opinion and later received an MRI scan that was described as abnormal.
Hussein wrote that underdiagnosis is also common, with some patients waiting months or years for a disease to be correctly identified and treated. She said her health improved after bipolar medication was stopped and multiple sclerosis treatment began, though treatment since then has included daily self-injections, monthly infusions and an immune-system reboot. Hussein argued that people who are ill but remain undiagnosed should not be stigmatised or dismissed while a complex diagnostic process continues.
