Teri Garr reveals a secret on "Larry King" she kept for nearly two decades. The actress from "Mr. Mom" says she would have come forward sooner, but she feared it would hurt her career. She hopes going public will help educate others about the disease. Garr is one of several famous people fighting the often debilitating disease: people like Annette Funicello and Mitt Romney's wife Ann. Even the fictional president on NBC's "West Wing" is battling M.S. 7Healthcast reporter Janet Wu has more.
Teri Garr is telling the world she has M.S., but she says don't feel sorry for her.
Teri Garr, Actress
"It's not the end of the world and that's the message I want to give everyone."
She says she didn't intend to keep it a secret. For a long time, she didn't know what ailed her.
Teri Garr
"It took about ten years to even hone in on it and many, many, many doctors, this one and that one."
She even came to Boston to Brigham and Women's Hospital. This specialist says a diagnosis can be made much faster now, thanks to new technology.
Dr. Samia Khoury, Brigham & Women's M.S. Center
"In most patients, the MRI is very helpful in making the diagnosis."
M.S. is an auto-immune disease in which the body attacks its own tissue. It leads to a decline in motor skills. There is no cure. But patients usually live a normal life span and with new treatments, they are living more functional lives.
Brigham and Women's Hospital actually has the largest M.S. Center in the northeast. M.S. symptoms generally appear between the ages of 20 and 40. And women are twice as likely to be affected as men.
There are certain signs that should prompt a doctor's visit and tests.
Dr. Samia Khoury
"The occurrence of neurological symptoms that are unexplained, the sudden onset of loss of vision, numbness, tingling, difficulty walking."
Teri Garr has this hope:
Teri Garr
"People will become more aware and more proactive and go to a doctor and find a doctor that you like and find the treatments out there."
About 350,000 Americans have M.S. There is some genetic pre-disposition, but this is not an inherited disease. Just as there is no definitive cure, there is no definitive cause.
