Ashton Kutcher is known for many things, including acting in great projects, doing important charitable work, having a family with wife Mila Kunis. Having a serious health problem? Not so much—until now.
On an upcoming episode of National Geographic’s “Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge,” Kutcher made a startling confession: he battled a rare form of vasculitis, an autoimmune disorder. In that episode, he shares that the illness “like, knocked out my vision, it knocked out my hearing, it knocked out, like, all of my equilibrium.” Fortunately, on August 8, Kutcher assured his Twitter followers, “I have fully recovered. All good.” What is vasculitis all about, though, and what are its warning signs?
Here are five key facts you need to know.
1) Vasculitis is generally rare and involves inflammation
Vasculitis involves inflammation of your blood vessels. According to the Mayo Clinic, as a vessel becomes inflamed, its walls start to get thicker; this can cause a restriction of blood flow. If that happens, your organs and tissues can become damaged. Most forms of vasculitis are rare, as Kutcher referenced. Anyone of any age can get vasculitis, and it can affect just one organ in your body, or multiple organs at once. Experts aren’t certain what causes it; it may be due to your genetic makeup or may just be a case of your immune system attacking your blood vessels in error.
2) Vasculitis types can vary widely
Kutcher has not revealed the specific kind of vasculitis he had. However, there are around 20 different forms of the disease, according to NYU Langone Medical Center data. Cogan’s Syndrome is one form of vasculitis that causes vision loss, hearing impairment, and dizziness, for example. It involves remission and relapse, and requires ongoing monitoring by your doctor. Other forms of vasculitis aren’t chronic; they’re considered to be acute, meaning they’re a short-term illness.
3) Vasculitis symptoms can be vague, but uncomfortable
The Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center identifies the disease as a systemic illness, and it often comes with a wide range of symptoms, including fever, weight loss, a fast pulse, and pain in various parts of your body. It can be really tough to pin down exactly where the pain in your body is coming from—it could be that you feel discomfort because your nerves are being affected by blood flow problems, for example. If you have a form of vasculitis that attacks your skin, you may also develop a rash on your leg called “palpable purpura”—purply-red raised bumps that appear in a “crop” pattern.
4) Vasculitis can be tough to diagnose
Because its symptoms can be so nonspecific, it can take a while to know you have vasculitis for sure. It’s tricky, because many other diseases can mimic the symptoms of vasculitis. If this is a suspected cause of what you’re feeling, doctors will do a biopsy of an organ that seems to be affected and look for the inflammation. Additional tests to help determine an exact diagnosis include blood tests, X-rays, and angiograms.
5) Vasculitis can be treated, and the prognosis can be good
Rheumatologists are the kinds of doctors who treat vasculitis, often with drug therapy that can include steroids like prednisone or prednisolone. In severe cases, immune-suppressing drugs like Cytoxan can be effective. People who have complications such as blocked arteries or aneurysms as a result of vasculitis may get surgery as well.
According to The American College of Rheumatology, outcomes for patients can be good. A positive attitude can really help recovery, too–of which Kutcher is living proof. As he told Gryllis, “The minute you start seeing your obstacles as things that are made for you, to give you what you need, then life starts to get fun. You start surfing on top of your problems, instead of living underneath them.”
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