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Christina Applegate is Not Your Paragon of Virtuous Ageing
She has multiple sclerosis, and you’re a jerk
I have read multiple think pieces on Christina Applegate’s face lately, one attributing her “puffy and bloated" visage to cosmetic fillers, the rest claiming her as their icon for how a 50-something woman should look. “Oh look, she got fat! Just like she’s supposed to!”
Christina Applegate has multiple sclerosis. I’m going to shout that louder for those of you in the back:
Christina Applegate has multiple sclerosis.
The current width of her face has nothing to do with botched cosmetic interventions or a desire to “age gracefully"—it’s steroids, probably prednisolone.
Steroids (along with Trumpers' favourite, hydroxychloquine, interestingly) are a first-line treatment for most, if not all, auto-immune diseases. They are known to cause weight gain and what is charmingly referred to on the NHS website as “moon face". I’ll be starting steroids soon. I can’t say I’m thrilled about this side effect.
And herein lies the danger in pontificating about what older women “should" look like.
Now you know her loose jowls are caused by drugs and not some sense of duty to give you the face you think you…
