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The actress Selma Blair appeared at the Vanity Fair Oscar party on Sunday evening wearing a diaphanous Ralph & Russo gown and carrying a custom-made cane covered in black patent leather. It was her first public event since she announced in October her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, a chronic and often disabling disease affecting the central nervous system. (Fortin, 2/26)

Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system that sparks the immune system to attack the protective myelin sheath covering the nerves. The resultant damage disrupts the body’s ability to communicate with itself. Throughout the interview, Blair’s voice shook due to spasmodic dysphonia, a symptom of the chronic disease caused by involuntary muscle movements of the voice box. "It is interesting to put it out there, to be here, to say, 'This is what my particular case looks like right now,'" she said. (Lee, 2/26)