- Christina Applegate was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few months ago.
- MS is a central nervous system disease that disrupts information's flow within the brain and body.
- Other celebrities living with MS include Selma Blair, Joan Didion, Montel Williams and Clay Walker.
- The "Dead To Me" star also battled breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy in 2008.
Christina Applegate is revealing that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few months ago.
"It’s been a strange journey," the Emmy Award-winning actress tweeted Tuesday. "But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some (expletive) blocks it."
"As one of my friends that has MS said ' we wake up and take the indicated action'. And that’s what I do," Applegate, continued, asking for privacy "as I go through this thing."
USA TODAY has reached out to Applegate's representative for further comment.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society website describes MS as "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."
The cause is unknown, the site says, though the disease is believed to be triggered by an environmental factor in a person with a genetic predisposition to respond. Most people are diagnosed between ages 20 and 50, and women are two to three times more likely to receive the diagnosis.
Other celebrities living with MS include Selma Blair, Joan Didion, Montel Williams, Clay Walker, Jack Osbourne, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Teri Garr.
Applegate rose to fame as a child actor on the sitcom "Married… with Children" from 1987 to 1997 before going on to a successful career as an adult in film, TV and theater that nabbed her an Emmy Award, Tony Award and four Golden Globe nominations.
Some of her most notable performances include starring roles on the sitcoms "Jesse" and "Samantha Who?", Rachel's sister on "Friends" (for which she received an Emmy in 2003) and anchor Veronica Corningstone in "Anchorman." She currently stars alongside Linda Cardellini in Netflix's "Dead to Me."
'You're never not aware' of it:Christina Applegate on writing double mastectomy into Netflix show
The actress previously spoke out about health struggles in 2008, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. In 2017, Applegate revealed she had also removed her ovaries and fallopian tubes to prevent further cancer diagnoses.
"My cousin passed away from ovarian cancer in 2008. I could prevent that," she told the "Today" show. "That’s how I’ve taken control of everything. It’s a relief. That’s one other thing off the table. Now, let’s hope I don’t get hit by a bus."
Applegate opened up to USA TODAY in 2019 about continuing to struggle with her body image more than a decade after the surgery.
"I think about it every day," she said. "Girls who go through this, we say to each other, 'Yep, it’s been 10 years,' but you’re never not aware that that’s something you’ve been through. Everything looks different. You have to shower and you’re like, 'Oh, there they are. That happened.' "
Contributing: Kim Willis
More on MS:Selma Blair reveals she has multiple sclerosis: 'I want my life to be full somehow'
