M*A*S*H actor Alan Alda recently opened up about his battle with Parkinson’s disease, sharing a candid update on his life during an interview with Dr. Jon LaPook on CBS Sunday Morning.
Alda revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis on CBS This Morning back in 2018, three and a half years after he found out. The 90-year-old told LaPook on Sunday, “I thought it would be good to say so publicly, to let people know that I did have it because it was only a matter of time that some article would come out that was full of syrup…Alan’s family is worried. He has this terrible disease. His friends don’t know what to do, you know. Nonsense. I was exercising. I was taking medicine. And I was facing it.”
Alan Alda. Photo: Dia Dipasupil / Getty ImagesDia Dipasupil / Getty Images
He continued, “It’s really important to me to face reality. It sounds like a self-help model, but I really think reality is my friend. I don’t want to wish it away. I can’t wish it away. I can’t hope for a better future. I got to accept what it is. Now, if there’s a chance I can change what is, that’s reality too. And I’d be foolish not to pursue it.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, Parkinson’s symptoms may include tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, poor posture, poor balance, speech changes, writing changes, depression, or anxiety. While the shaky tremors are among the most recognizable symptoms of the neurological disease, Alda noticed something else first.
The actor explained, “I had a symptom which at the time was not that well known. Acting out your dreams. I had a dream that somebody was attacking me. And I picked up a sack of potatoes and threw it at him. What I was really doing was throwing a pillow at Arlene, my wife.” He added, “I had no twitch, no tremor, no problems with my voice. I just had this. So I went to a neurologist. And I said I think I got Parkinson’s.”
Even though Alda waited to reveal his diagnosis, he isn’t secretive about the disease. “I didn’t see a problem with letting people know. I also wanted to demystify it. There were people I told that I had it, and they said, ‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry.’ Well, which is appropriate because in the later stages, it’s really debilitating. But before you get to that, you can hold it off for some amount of time. Everybody has a different case and every day is different for everybody.”
When it comes to how he handles Parkinson’s, Alda had this to say: “There’s a lot I have to do to fight Parkinson’s. Takes up a lot of my day. Exercise, vocalize, sleep…But I don’t let Parkinson’s define me. It’s not who I am. It’s just a hobby.”
Of course, the M*A*S*H star’s sense of humor helps him through the day-to-day of the disease. Alda says it’s “Very important because the best way to deal with anything that’s a little bit of a problem is to find out what’s funny about it and laugh at it.
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