Ashton Kutcher Is 'Lucky To Be Alive' After A Vasculitis Fight & Here's What It Does To You
He almost lost a few of his senses!
Ashton Kutcher. Right: Ashton Kutcher and his wife Mila Kunis.
Ashton Kutcher just revealed that he's recovered from a scary battle with vasculitis, a rare autoimmune disease that made it hard to live a normal life and threatened his career.
The That '70s Show actor opened up about his struggle with the disease during an appearance on the show Running Wild With Bear Grylls: The Challenge, which was shared in an exclusive preview by Access Hollywood.
"Two years ago, I had this weird, super rare form of vasculitis that knocked out my vision, knocked out my hearing, and knocked out all my equilibrium," Ashton told Grylls during the show.
"It took like a year to build it all back up."
The actor says he's "lucky to be alive" and he's "all good now," although it's been a tough journey.
"You don't really appreciate it until it's gone. Until you go, 'I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to see again, I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to hear again. I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to walk again'," said Kutcher.
Vasculitis, also known as angiitis, happens when the body's blood vessels are inflamed, according to Nord's rare disease patient association.
In Individuals suffering from vasculitis, the swelling narrows and causes damage to the walls of their blood vessels. Because blood can't flow easily, it causes blood clots, organ failure and blockages.
"As a result, there may be restriction of oxygenated blood supply to certain tissues (ischemia), potentially resulting in pain, tissue damage, and, in some cases, malfunction of certain affected organs," says the rare disease database.
According to the American College of Rheumatology, there are many kinds of vasculitis, and the cases can range from mild to life-threatening.
If cases are detected early enough, they can be treated to prevent permanent damage and more severe forms of vasculitis.
Symptoms of the disease include:
- Shortness of breath and cough
- Fever
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Numbness or weakness of hands or feet
- Red spots, lumps and sores on the skin
- Rashes.
Kutcher confirmed that he's "all good" and "moving on" in a tweet posted after the release of the show's preview.
He's doing so good that he even plans to participate in the 2022 NY Marathon.
\u201cBefore there are a bunch of rumors/ chatter/ whatever out there. Yes, I had a rare vasculitis episode 3yrs ago. (Autoimmune flair up) I had some impairments hear, vision, balance issues right after. I fully recovered. All good. Moving on. See you at the 2022 NY Marathon w/Thorn\u201d— ashton kutcher (@ashton kutcher) 1660005535
Although the disease is rare, Kutcher isn't the only Hollywood figure to face it.
Actor-director Harold Ramis also suffered from vasculitis and died of complications related to the illness in 2014, reported CNN.