Actress Selma Blair
Selma Blair
Selma Blair Beitner is an American actress. She played a number of small roles in films and on television before obtaining recognition for her leading role in the film Brown's Requiem. Her breakthrough came when she starred as Zoe Bean on the WB sitcom Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane, a…
How is Selma Blair treating her multiple sclerosis?
Actress Selma Blair is using an experimental stem cell therapy called HSCT to treat her multiple sclerosis. Image: Instagram Selma Blair revealed via Instagram that she is undergoing a stem cell treatment called hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to slow down her multiple sclerosis.
Is Selma Blair suffering from spasmodic dysphonia?
As Blair is a successful performer and actress, this particular side effect could impact her working life in a dramatic way. Women's Health points out that "if you listen to Selma's interview, you'll notice her voice breaking — the main symptom of spasmodic dysphonia."
Why did Selma Blair shave her head?
In a recent Instagram post, actress Selma Blair showed off her newly shaven head and announced she “did HSCT” in an effort to slow down the progression of her multiple sclerosis.
What are the symptoms of Selma Blair's MS?
Symptoms can include limited mobility, nerve pain, spasms, fatigue, and balance. Having revealed her diagnosis in October 2018, here's everything we know about Selma Blair's MS journey so far.
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What treatment has Selma Blair had for MS?
Selma Blair is 'in remission' after 3-year battle with MS. But her symptoms continued to worsen despite medication, so in 2019, she made the decision to undergo a stem cell transplant in Chicago at Northwestern University.
What type of chemo did Selma Blair have?
Stem cell put me in remission,” she said during a discovery+ Television Critics Association panel in support of her upcoming documentary, Introducing Selma Blair, which premieres Oct. 15. “It took about a year after stem cell for the inflammation and lesions to really go down,” she said.
Did Selma Blair get a stem cell transplant?
In “Introducing, Selma Blair,” the actress opens up about how she is embracing the disease and how she is feeling after undergoing a stem cell transplant in 2019. "At this moment, I'm great," Blair told "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts in an interview.
Has Selma Blair recovered from MS?
Actress Selma Blair has said she is "in remission" from multiple sclerosis. The 49-year-old American, known for films like Cruel Intentions, Hellboy and Legally Blonde, was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2018.
Where did Selma Blair get stem cell treatment?
A little more than a year following the seven-step procedure, which included an aggressive course of chemotherapy under the care of Dr. Richard K. Burt at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and a long emotional and physical recovery, Blair is seeing "huge improvements" in her mobility and daily life.
What actress has multiple sclerosis?
Oct 20 (Reuters) - In October 2018, Selma Blair announced to her fans that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an incurable debilitating neurological condition in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves.
How was Jack Osbourne diagnosed with MS?
After extensive testing—including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and lumbar puncture (spinal tap)—Osbourne was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS)—the most common form of the degenerative, neurologic condition.
What can cause multiple sclerosis?
The cause of multiple sclerosis is unknown. It's considered an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. In the case of MS , this immune system malfunction destroys the fatty substance that coats and protects nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord (myelin).
What is Selma Blair sick?
Actress Selma Blair has shared her personal journey with multiple sclerosis (MS) in a new documentary, "Introducing, Selma Blair." The 49-year-old was diagnosed with the disease in 2018, and the film follows her struggles with it and the treatments she has used to help slow its progression.
How long can you live with MS?
One study has found that the average life expectancy for people with MS is 76 years of age. In 2019, the U.S. life-expectancy averaged 78.8 years, and in 2020 it declined to 77.3 years, primarily due to the COVID pandemic. Many people with MS may live for 25 to 35 years or longer after their diagnosis.
Can MS go into remission?
If you have multiple sclerosis (MS), your symptoms may get worse for periods lasting at least 24 hours. Between these flare-ups, you have phases of recovery, called remissions. They might last a few weeks, several months, or longer. This type of MS is known as relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS).
Is MS a terminal illness?
MS itself is rarely fatal, but complications may arise from severe MS, such as chest or bladder infections, or swallowing difficulties. The average life expectancy for people with MS is around 5 to 10 years lower than average, and this gap appears to be getting smaller all the time.
What campaigns has Blair been in?
Blair looked sensational on the red carpet, and the glamorous aspects of her career (as well as being known for her roles in Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde, and The Sweetest Thing, she's starred in campaigns for Chanel, Miu Miu, and Gap) are important to her on a deeper level.
Is Selma Blair diagnosed with MS?
Since she revealed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis to the world in October 2018, Selma Blair hasn't shied away from sharing what it's like to live with this autoimmune disorder. Now, she's opening up to the one early MS symptom that made her realize something wasn't right with her body.
What is Selma Blair's diagnosis?
Selma Blair opened up to Good Morning America and Vanity Fair with details about her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis. The actress was diagnosed with MS in August 2018, after seeing a doctor for what she thought was a pinched nerve. MS is an incurable disease of the central nervous system that affects how the body and brain communicate.
When was Selma's son diagnosed with MS?
Despite grappling with undiagnosed MS flare-ups since the birth of her son in 2011, Selma struggled to get doctors to take her symptoms seriously. When she was finally diagnosed following an MRI in 2018—after doctors found 20 different MS-related lesions on her brain—she recalled actually feeling a sense of relief.
How do you know if you have MS?
After making an appearance at Sunday’s Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty ( patent-leather cane in hand ), the 46-year-old actress appeared on Good Morning America on Tuesday, where she spoke about her multiple sclerosis (MS) ...
How long does MS flare up?
Of course, no two cases of MS are the same, so symptoms can present differently in each person, but flares typically last a few days. In cases where there's new damage due to inflammation, the symptoms could take up to a few months to resolve.
What is MS in medical terms?
Hold on, tell me a little bit about MS. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an often disabling disease of the central nervous system, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The body's immune system attacks nerve endings in the central nervous system, per the NIH, which essentially disrupts the flow of information within ...
Does MS resolve?
MS doesn't resolve and needs to be treated.”. Even doctors will often misdiagnose an MS patient with a more common condition at first, he says. Selma herself, for example, estimates that she's had the disease for quite a while: “I have probably had this incurable disease for 15 years at least," she wrote.
Can MS patients write off symptoms?
Still, it's extremely common for MS patients to write off their symptoms at first, like Selma did, says Dr. Sachdeve. “It is very tempting to ascribe early findings of MS to common disorders like strains, sprains, or pinches,” he says. “The difference is the common disorders often resolve. MS doesn't resolve and needs to be treated.”.
How old is Selma Blair?
Selma Blair, 47 , has been super open about her life with multiple sclerosis on her Instagram over the last year. The actress took her personal story to a bigger stage at the Time 100 Health Summit this week and revealed more about her treatment.
Is Selma still recovering from chemo?
You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Following the chemotherapy and stem cell treatment, Selma revealed she is still recovering.
Did Selma Blair have chemo?
Selma Blair opened up about undergoing chemotherapy for multiple sclerosis at the Time 100 Health Summit. The actress revealed she and her son planned for her death before starting chemo. Selma says she "had more chemo than they usually do for cancer patients, because they almost kill you.". Selma Blair, 47, has been super open about her life ...
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What is it called when you have multiple sclerosis?
An attack of multiple sclerosis is usually called a relapse or flare-up , and it involves symptoms worsening for a period of time. Blair believes that her current flare-up has been going on since she gave birth to her son, Arthur (above), in 2011; Arthur's father is fashion designer Jason Bleick. For several years after he was born, Blair experienced so many unexplained symptoms that doctors wrongly attributed to other conditions like stress and anxiety.
Is MS a snowflake disease?
Opening up on GMA, Blair revealed that she's come to view MS as "a snowflake disease because it's different, like a fingerprint , for everyone ," ( per NBC News ). Of course, there are a variety of symptoms associated with MS, and each patient will experience them in different ways depending on how the condition manifests in the body. Healthline notes that vision problems, pains and spasms, fatigue, cognitive issues, tingling and numbness, problems with balance, weakness, and sexual dysfunction are all common symptoms in people with MS.
Did Selma Blair have multiple sclerosis?
When Selma Blair stepped out on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscar party with a cane in her hand, she took her multiple sclerosis diagnosis public. As an actress, Blair is used to being front of the camera, and she's been opening up about what life with a chronic illness and disability is really like. While her stunning Oscars appearance was certainly momentous for the disabled community, her outspoken and honest approach to discussing illness is continually enlightening, bringing some much-needed awareness to an often misunderstood condition.
Did Blair get diagnosed with MS?
After years of experiencing a myriad of unexplainable symptoms and feeling as though medical professionals weren't hearing her, Blair finally received a diagnosis and some much-needed answers. Unafraid to share every detail of her journey to discovering she has MS, the Cruel Intentions actress explained on Good Morning America, during her first post-diagnosis TV interview, "When I got the diagnosis I cried with some relief. Like, 'Oh, good, I'll be able to do something.'"
Does Blair have MS?
Multiple sclerosis manifests in many different ways, and patients often don't experience the same symptoms as each other. Blair revealed on GMA that one such unexpected symptom of her MS diagnosis is spasmodic dysphonia (which is sometimes referred to as laryngeal dystonia), in which the muscles a person uses to speak are affected and can go into spasm and create difficulty talking. As Blair is a successful performer and actress, this particular side effect could impact her working life in a dramatic way.
When did Burt's MS trial end?
Though the formal MS clinical trial ended in July 2016, Blair was treated this summer, possibly under the FDA’s expanded access process.
What did Burt say about the FDA warning?
The Scientist goes into details of the FDA warning and quotes Burt as saying the letter had nothing to do with his sudden sabbatical: “Burt stresses that the closure of his clinic is not linked to issues cited in the FDA letter.
What is Burt's HSCT protocol?
universities and clinics to make his HSCT protocol more available, saying, “This is in my assessment … the best way to help the world, and humanity, and help patients to move this forward, to get the treatment more widely around the world.”.
How much did Burt charge for the trial?
He raises the point that the Burt program charged $100,000 or more to participate in the trial. Also, in late 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to Burt, alleging that the trial “violated regulations governing the proper conduct of clinical studies involving investigational new drugs … .”.
Is Richard Burt's stem cell program shutting down?
Richard Burt, MD, the chief of Northwestern Medicine’s immunotherapy for autoimmune diseases division, is taking a sabbatical, and the stem cell program he has headed for many years, which treated a number of people with MS, is shutting down.
