13 Celebrities Who Have Multiple Sclerosis

Introduction

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord, involving damage to the nerve cells and immobilizing muscular coordination, numbness, and blurred vision.

Multiple sclerosis outbreaks the immune system and damages the defensive sheath called myelin which protects nerve fibers. When this sheet gets damaged it breaks the communication between the brain and other body parts. In the course of time, the disease can potentially progress and cause permanent damage to the nervous system.

There is no specific cure discovered for multiple sclerosis still, there are treatments available based on the severity of the disease, can modify the treatment plan or medications.

Approximately around 2.8 million people are suffering from MS globally. Alone in the state of America about 1 million adults are suffering from multiple sclerosis and not to our surprise there are public figures among them. A few celebrities wish to reveal about their personal health and diagnosis to their fans as soon as it happens. There are many famous personalities who are suffering from MS.

Famous faces who do go public with their history of MS often like to raise awareness among common people and they do like to share their experiences. Many like to raise funds either by helping the well-established organizations or start foundations on their own to help fellow citizens.

Whether celebrity or a common man it is important to remember that multiple sclerosis affects each person in a different way.

Symptoms

Symptoms of MS may differ from person to person it depends on the severity of damage caused to nerve fiber and its location in the central nervous system. In some cases, people may lose the ability to walk independently or step at all. Other individuals may experience long periods of abatement of movements of certain organs without any new progressions.

So, depending on the type of MS some may have mild symptoms, and few may affect severely. Here are a few common symptoms listed.

• Loss of vision, partially or completely with a lot of pain during eye movement.

• Paralysis in one or more organs specially limbs that may usually occur on one side of the body at a time.

• Tingling effect under the feet or palms.

• Loss of brain and body coordination.

• Unsteady movements or not able to walk.

• Pain in the neck caused by certain neck movements, especially when bent forward.

• Vertigo.

• Fatigue.

• Mumble words with slurred speech.

• Perceivable problems.

• Mood swings.

• Prolonged blurry vision.

13 Famous Faces with Multiple Sclerosis

Let us see how these 13 celebrities deal with Multiple Sclerosis. They took a step forward to spread awareness and stimulate hope in common people.

1. Emma Caulfield Ford

A famous TV, and film actress, awarded best for her role as Dotti on Wanda Vision and Anya on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Emma Caulfield Ford, at age 49, first time discovered that she has multiple sclerosis and announced that she is been living with MS for more than ten years. But had kept her treatment details a secret from the public only a few of her close family and friends are familiar.

But, at last she decided to go public describing about her first symptom, which appeared in 2010, that she had a tickling feeling and inflammation on her face like a million ants crawling at a time, finally on her doctor’s advice she had an MRI scan and was quickly identified that she has Multiple sclerosis.

2. Christina Applegate

Christina Applegate is a reputed actor and producer. She became famous for the roles she played as Kelly Bundy in the year 1987 to 1997 and Sitcom “Married with Children”.

And well-known for her roles famous Samantha Who? A popular TV series and Up All Night. She has been nominated for multiple awards throughout her career. She has been diagnosed with MS in August 2021 at the age of 49 a few months prior to announcing her new series.

In recent times, she publicly announced that she was living with the MS disease and she had a strange journey and a tough time, but that she had a lot of moral support from other members of the MS community.

This is the second time Applegate has gone public about her health issue. In 2008, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and also tested positive for breast cancer gene.

3. Selma Blair

A leading television and film actor announced that she has MS in October 2018, at age 46.

Blair started her career in a sci-fi TV series. She was diagnosed after finding lesions on an MRI scan. She explained that she has neglected her symptoms and was never taken seriously for years until she fainted. She suffered a lot from this incurable disease for 15 years.

She described some of the symptoms she has been experiencing to help others get identified soon to avoid severe damage.

• My limbs got disabled.

• Used to fall sometimes.

• Used to drop things suddenly.

• A foggy memory.

The actress decided to go public and spoke about her achieving two years of abstinence and she had overcome from MS by using the prescribed medications and treatments.

4. Jack Osbourne

Jack Osbourne a famous TV personality was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis. He lost his right eyesight which alerted him about this disease. He was also a drug addict in the past.

Osbourne has become an explicit defender for multiple sclerosis awareness and regularly shares his personal experiences with public and others living with MS.

After a proper treatment Osbourne returned to TV and started a fresh show co-starring with his father.

5. Janice Dean

Janice Dean is a leading television meteorologist at Fox News Network and manager of Fox and Friends. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis around 2005 and went public in 2008 explaining about her condition and symptoms. She shared her first symptoms as that she felt tiredness and insensibility in her fingers, thighs and on the bottom of her feet.

When done an MRI it showed lesions in her brain confirming about MS. Since few years, she started to speak publicly about MS, its symptoms and how to overcome by sharing her personal experiences.

6. Ann Romney

Ann Romney, the wife of a famous politician current senator and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. She was diagnosed with this disease at the age of 49. As a MS activist, she openly discussed about the journey with MS publicly to create awareness in people. In a conference with Good Morning America, Ann explained, how she was diagnosed after experiencing severe insensibility and tiredness which made her feel confused and crushed.

Then she said her passion for riding horses is the best therapy for MS to get on the situation and she slowly observed that she stated recovering which gave her strength, joy, and hope.

Romney also shared about her daily routine breathing exercises and reflexology, combined with yoga helped to relieve from weakness and improved her mental balancing.

7. Walter Williams

Walter Williams, of age 77, Founder of O’Jays, a R&B group and a famous singer. He experienced symptoms of MS while he was on a tour with the band. He also described his symptoms that caused numbness in his toe finger and slowly spread to his foot and then whole leg, came to know there was a problem.

"I apparently stopped in every hospital to find out the cause” said, Walter. Finally, was diagnosed with MS, but he kept it as a private issue for nearly 10 years. Williams started to exercise to improvise his body to fight against MS. He believed it was the heat causing this situation, so he used to take cold showers which relieved him from symptoms.

8. Teri Garr

Teri Garr was a famous actress, reached peak in her film career in 1983, when she first observed symptoms of Multiple sclerosis. She oddly experienced a stabbing pain in her arm. After a few visits to doctor she found it was due to MS.

Teri Garr went public on saying about MS and became a representative for the National MS Society.

She said taking a healthy diet, exercising regularly can make disease supressed and modifying drugs can keep the disease under control. She continues to make public outlook and to speak out about what it’s like to live with MS.

9. Neil Cavuto

Neil Cavuto, Fox News Channel anchor diagnosed with MS, which made him feel so down.

Now, after two decades later, came to public to share his journey with MS and symptoms he faced. Cavuto also had bypass surgery for his coronary arteries.

10. Clay Walker

A famous country musician Clay Walker was diagnosed with MS. He was told that he would be in a wheelchair for years and cannot walk in his lifetime. But he believed in medication, and he slowly started to recover and has remained healthy, although some symptoms still exist. Since then, he decided to raise awareness and funds for MS research, so he started a non-profit organization in 2003.

11. Alan and David Osmond

Alan and David Osmond both are musicians’ (father and son). Alan one of the members of the Osmond’s singing troupe, one day suddenly began to shiver onstage in a strange way.

He was in shock and was not knowing what was happening. Eventually, he got diagnosed with progressive Multiple sclerosis, but he was well-determined not to be a victim.

After 20 years his son David was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS same as his father, David also wanted to share and discuss MS with the public. He is a speaker at the National MS Society.

David conducted a song campaign as part of the voice to spread about MS to aware and replenish people. He launched this song in collaboration with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.

12. Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Jamie-Lynn Sigler a famous actress had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the very young age of 20. She said she informed her illness only to a few members of her family and colleagues but mostly kept it as a secret.

Sigler mentioned about her husband, Cutter Dykstra a baseball player, was one of the reasons to open up about her illness. “I wanted to be an example to him of strength and courage." She spoke.

She mentioned about her symptoms like numbness in legs, so could not walk or run for a longer period of time. Her symptoms have got worsen day by day. But, after MS medications she could come back to her normal life.

13. Montel Williams

Montel Williams, the former talk show host went public about his multiple sclerosis treatment. Explaining, it was very hard for him to digest when the neurologist confirmed his MS.

But Montel determined not to turn up, so he converted his fear into a foundation, and reached more than $1.5 million in grants within a year.