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For Christina Applegate, being told she didn't have multiple sclerosis (MS) felt like being 'back at square one'.
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she → publish → square
The actress, 54, had already spent five years battling debilitating symptoms that left her needing to use a wheelchair and cane.
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that → spend → wheelchair
'[My doctor] came into my room and said, "congratulations, you don't have MS,"' she recalled on a podcast this week.
'I was, like, not happy at all…
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you don't get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden, I'm better.
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I → misdiagnose → ?
I haven't gotten better.
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I → get → ?
If anything, I've gotten worse.'
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I → get → ?
Data suggests many patients are diagnosed with MS, a condition in which the immune system attacks the protective coating around nerves, only to later be told it was a misdiagnosis.
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it → suggest → nerves
In fact, studies show that nearly one in five MS patients are later told they don't actually have the condition – in some cases, after receiving treatment for MS for more than a decade.
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they → show → decade
Speaking to the Daily Mail, neurologists who've been treating the condition for several years have described this type of misdiagnosis as a 'common problem'.
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who → speak → problem
'This week alone, I undiagnosed two patients,' said Dr Dinesh Sivakolundu, a neurologist who works with MS patients.
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who → undiagnose → patients
'It is incredibly common, so I'm glad it is gaining traction now.'
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Christina Applegate, pictured in 2023, has revealed her doctor told her she does not have multiple sclerosis despite battling debilitating symptoms for more than five years
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The big question is, how and why does it happen?
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First, it's important to understand what MS is – and why it's so tricky to diagnose.
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it → understand → ?
The condition occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibres, known as myelin.
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that → occur → myelin
As this is destroyed, it interrupts communication between these nerve cells, disrupting signals sent from the brain to the rest of the body.
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it → destroy → body
There are four types of MS, with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), featuring symptoms that return after periods of remission or recovery, being the most common.
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that → be → remission
But because symptoms vary depending on where the nerves are being attacked, not all patients have the same warning signs, which can include struggling to walk or move and numbness.
Multiple sclerosis affects around 150,000 Britons and is the most common disabling neurological disease among younger adults, typically striking between the ages of 20 and 40.
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sclerosis → vary → 20
The number of diagnoses in the UK have risen sharply in recent decades.
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number → rise → decades
A recent analysis published in the journal JAMA Neurology found prevalence of the condition doubled between 2000 and 2020.
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prevalence → publish → 2000
The MS Society – the UK's biggest charity for the disorder – has also reported a significant rise in patients.
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Experts have mostly attributed this to improvements in detecting MS, rather than a genuine increase in cases.
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However some argue that the rise is real, pointing to risk factors like obesity and smoking that could fuel the condition.
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that → argue → condition
Women are about three times more likely to be diagnosed than men.
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It's not clear why, but scientists have suggested it is linked to hormones and stress.
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it → suggest → hormones
Instead, diagnosing MS involves several steps.
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diagnosing → diagnose → steps
Doctors typically begin by taking a detailed medical history, examining the patient and carrying out tests, including blood tests, to rule out other conditions that can cause similar symptoms.
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that → begin → symptoms
They then use internationally recognised guidelines, known as the McDonald criteria, to assess whether there is sufficient evidence of MS.
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This involves looking for evidence of damage to nerves in different parts of the central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
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Much of this damage can be seen on MRI scans as bright spots, known as lesions, which indicate areas where the protective coating around nerves has been damaged.
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coating → see → nerves
Doctors examine the number, location and pattern of these lesions, alongside other test results and symptoms, to determine whether MS is the likely cause.
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MS → examine → results
But Dr Sivakolundu warned that mistakes can occur when doctors misinterpret these scans or mistake abnormalities caused by other conditions for signs of MS.
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doctors → warn → MS
For example, he said it was normal for everyone over 40 to have at least one white spot on their brain, but in some cases, doctors interpret this as a potential sign of MS, potentially leading to a misdiagnosis.
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doctors → say → misdiagnosis
'When the neurologist sees the report, if it is a young patient, they're more likely to get the diagnosis of MS, because now a young patient is having these white spots,' he added.
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In a study from 2019, scientists found that of 241 patients referred for an MS diagnosis to two major medical centers in California, 17 to 19 percent were later told they had been misdiagnosed.
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they → find → California
On average, patients had spent four years being treated before receiving the news that they had been misdiagnosed.
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they → spend → news
In a 2024 review of six studies, including 1,621 patients, scientists found 16 percent of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis were later found to not have the condition.
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percent → include → condition
In one case, a patient spent 16 years thinking they had the disease before being told it was a mistaken diagnosis.
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it → spend → disease
In the 2019 study, scientists said that the most frequent condition misdiagnosed as MS was migraines, behind about 16 percent of cases.
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condition → say → cases
Severe migraines can trigger symptoms that closely resemble MS, including vision changes, numbness, tingling, dizziness and weakness.
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that → trigger → changes
…and 20 more, not listed.
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