Ashton Kutcher revealed more details about his rare autoimmune disorder, vasculitis, and how it’s impacted his everyday life.
On Monday, the 44-year-old clarified some things about his health condition on Twitter after a mention of it in a sneak peek of an upcoming episode of the National Geographic’s Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, obtained byAccess Hollywood, made headlines this week.
In his post, Kutcher described his “vasculitis episode” and the types of “impairments” he experienced during it, before acknowledging how he’s “moved on”.
“Before there are a bunch of rumours/ chatter/ whatever out there,” he wrote. “Yes, I had a rare vasculitis episode 3yrs ago. (Autoimmune flare 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.”
In the sneak peak of Kutcher’s NatGeo appearance, the actor revealed he had vasculitis and recalled how he couldn’t see, hear, or walk because of it.
“I had this weird, super rare form of vasculitis, that like knocked out my vision, it knocked out my hearing, it knocked out like all my equilibrium,” the No Strings Attached star said. “It took me a year to build it all back up.”
“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.’”
Vasculitis occurs when there’s inflammation of the blood vessels, causing “the blood vessels to thicken,” says the Mayo Clinic. The inflammation can then prevent blood from properly flowing through the body and even result in organ damage.
Although symptoms are different for everyone, some of the most common ones include headache, weight loss, fatigue, and fever.
During the episode, Kutcher went on to acknowledge how he was “lucky to be alive,” before expressing how his autoimmune disorder changed his perspective about the “obstacles” in his life.
“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, right?” the That ‘70s Show star said. “You start surfing on top of your problems instead of living underneath them.”
Host Bear Grylls agreed with Kutcher’s thoughts and praised the actor, as he said: “What do they say in survival? Storms make you stronger. And I think he’s living proof of that.”
