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Eric Dane has been published with something very personal and potentially very painful.
The actor is diagnosed with ALS.
The former Gray’s Anatomy star, who has been a consistent and successful TV presence for many years, confirmed this state even via a statement to People Magazine.
“I’ve been diagnosed with Als,” Dane told the outlets late on April 10. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side when we navigate this next chapter.”
He added:
“I feel lucky that I am able to continue working and look forward to returning to set euphoria next week. I ask that you give my family and I privacy during this period.”
The 52-year-old is married to Rebecca Gayheart, and the spouses share two children: Billie Beatrice, 15, and Georgia Geraldine, 13.
Dane starred in 139 episodes of Gray’s Anatomy as Dr. Mark Sloan.
His other big credits include Euphoria, The Last Ship and last year’s big screen hit, Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
On the beloved HBO drama, Dane Cal Jacobs, the strict father of Jacob Elordi’s character Nate Jacobs. He begins to shoot his role for the long -evolving third season on April 14.
ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease because the Hall of Fame New York Yanke’s first Baseman died from it in 1941.
The prognosis of a person with this rare degenerative disease – which causes progressive paralysis of the muscles – is typically not positive.
Those with ALC experience first jerking or weakness in a limb, often followed by blurred speech.
According to the Mayo Clinic, because the disease affects the nerve cells of the brain and spine that controls muscle movement, patients slowly lose their ability to talk, eat, walk and breathe independently.
There is no cure for the disease, and the muscle dystrophy association says that patients typically only survive three to five years after diagnosis, although some can live decades.
Unfortunately, they do not often live in very comfortable circumstances.
In addition to Eric Dane, other notable celebrities that have been diagnosed with ALS, Aaron Lazar, John Driskell Hopkins, Eric Stevens, Joe Bonsall, Roberta Flack, Kenneth Mitchell and Stephen Hawking.
We send our thoughts and prayers to Eric Dane and his loved ones.