Actor Christina Applegate announced Tuesday that she had been
after years of believing she had the condition — and experts say her experience is more common than many people realize.
asserted
people → announce → condition
Applegate shared the news on her podcast, MeSsy, where she and actor Jamie-Lynn Sigler discuss life with MS.
asserted
she → share → MS
In a follow-up episode, Dr. Marwa Kaisey, an associate professor at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center department of neurology, said that almost 1 in 5 people who are told they have multiple sclerosis "didn't actually have it."
asserted
they → say → it
There is no single test to confirm MS, a disease where the body's immune system attacks the central nervous system.
asserted
system → be → system
Symptoms vary from person to person and it can progress in different ways, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
uncertain
it → vary → Society
How can an MS misdiagnosis be discovered?
asserted
misdiagnosis → discover → ?
CBS News spoke with Dr. Robert Brumel, the director of the Mellon Center for MS at Cleveland Clinic, a multidisciplinary center that cares for more than 11,000 patients with multiple sclerosis, about the risk of an MS misdiagnosis and what patients need to know.
asserted
patients → speak → what
He said a misdiagnosis is most often found when a person seeks out a second opinion because their symptoms aren't getting better.
asserted
symptoms → say → opinion
This doesn't always mean the diagnosis is wrong, but can be an indicator for more advanced tests.
asserted
diagnosis → mean → tests
(Brumel said most MS treatments, especially the ones most commonly used, are "very safe" and wouldn't put a person's health in danger.)
asserted
treatments → say → danger
When a misdiagnosis happens, the root cause is typically that abnormalities on brain scans were misinterpreted, Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → happen → scans
Lesions on the brain are considered a hallmark of MS, but they can also be caused by other medical issues such as high blood pressure, smoking or migraines.
asserted
they → consider → pressure
More advanced MRI sequences can help differentiate between MS lesions and those caused by other conditions, Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → help → conditions
When concerns about a potential misdiagnosis arise, the next steps typically involve running specialized tests.
asserted
steps → arise → tests
Those can include advanced MRI sequences to study the lesions more closely, a spinal MRI, or spinal fluid analysis that can identify specific abnormal immune proteins, Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → include → proteins
On MeSsy, Kaisey described MS misdiagnoses as "fairly common."
asserted
Kaisey → describe → misdiagnoses
Brumel said that the largest studies looking at the risk of misdiagnosis have shown that between 15% and 20% of patients diagnosed with MS are found to not actually have the condition.
asserted
15 → say → condition
Dr. Josef Gutman, the director of NYU Langone's Long Island Comprehensive MS Care Center, told CBS News that the wide spectrum of symptoms that can be attributed to multiple sclerosis makes the condition difficult to diagnosis.
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condition → tell → sclerosis
It'si mportant to keep in mind that those symptoms are not necessarily specific in a lot of ways.
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symptoms → keep → ways
It's sort of the story, combined with MRI imaging, combined with other markers like spinal fluid, that help us make the MS diagnosis," Gutman said.
asserted
Gutman → combine → diagnosis
"
New multiple sclerosis diagnostic criteria, developed by an international panel of experts in the field, were published in 2025 to try to reduce this risk.
asserted
criteria → develop → risk
These criteria are more specific than before, according to Brumel, especially when it comes to interpreting brain lesions.
uncertain
it → accord → lesions
"We really place a high premium on getting the diagnosis correct from the start, so that then we can move very confidently into highly effective therapy for MS," Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → place → MS
What happens after an MS misdiagnosis?
asserted
What → happen → misdiagnosis
If a patient's multiple sclerosis misdiagnosis is identified, doctors will then start looking at other potential causes for their symptoms, Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → identify → symptoms
They may be suffering from an autoimmune condition, which can cause joint pain, swelling and system-wide inflammation.
uncertain
which → suffer → pain
Fibromyalgia is a "commonly identified diagnosis that mimics MS," Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → identify → MS
Migraines are also a possible diagnosis, because migraine can cause lesions and other neurological symptoms.
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migraine → cause → lesions
Chronic pain or fatigue syndromes can also "masquerade as MS," Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → masquerade → MS
Sometimes, a person may not have one disorder but several, Brumel said, noting that an incorrect diagnosis "really sidetracks things.
uncertain
diagnosis → have → things
"
"MS can sometimes be a gratifying solution to a patient with many symptoms because it's thought of as kind of a single, solitary root cause of things," he said, adding that he has seen patients whose fatigue is caused by a sleep or thyroid disorder, while rheumatoid conditions or fibromyalgia cause pain and swelling.
asserted
conditions → gratify → pain
On her podcast, Applegate said learning she had the wrong diagnosis has made things harder for now, since there's still no explanation for the debilitating symptoms that affect her daily life and mobility.
asserted
that → say → life
"You don't get misdiagnosed and then all of the sudden I'm better," Applegate said.
asserted
Applegate → misdiagnose → ?
"If anything, I've gotten worse.
asserted
I → get → ?
So I'm back at square one where I don't know what's going on with me.
asserted
what → know → me
And that's going to be an online investigation that my doctors are going to be getting into just to find out what has been going on since 2021, why did this happen?
asserted
this → go → 2021
While only a minority of patients are misdiagnosed, anyone concerned about their diagnosis should always feel comfortable seeking a second opinion, Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → misdiagnose → opinion
Even when the original diagnosis is correct, a second opinion can help a patient find other resources, he noted.
asserted
he → help → resources
"MS is a life-changing diagnosis, and anytime somebody is facing something like that, I always think a second opinion is potentially in order," Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → change → order
Patients can also seek out a multiple sclerosis expert, Brumel said.
asserted
Brumel → seek → expert
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
