The most well-known part of Alan Alda’s career as a Hollywood veteran and 86-year-old actor is his portrayal of a wartime doctor in the classic drama sitcom MAS*H. Yet the adored actor disclosed in 2018 that he had been given a horrible health diagnosis himself three years prior: Parkinson’s disease. While not altering his aspirations, Alda is now freely discussing the “greatest challenge” of the condition and how, since receiving the diagnosis, his outlook on life has changed. Find out what he considers to be the most difficult component of his Parkinson’s illness in the next paragraphs, as well as what he is doing to prevent the disease from getting worse.
A group of doctors detailed a peculiar Parkinson’s symptom they had noticed in some of their patients in The New York Times: they exhibited a propensity for physically acting out their dreams while they were still asleep, a condition known as REM sleep behavior disorder. Alda first learned about this tale in 2015.
I realized I had done just that, Alda stated in a 2020 interview with AARP Magazine.
I was being attacked in my dream, so I tossed a sack of potatoes at the assailant. Actually, I gave my wife a pillow toss. I went to a neurologist and asked for a brain scan because I was fairly certain I had Parkinson’s disease. Due to his lack of the usual symptoms, the doctor initially advised against getting the scan, but Alda insisted. He called me back and said, “Wow, you really got it,” the actor recalled.
Alda emphasizes that since receiving his diagnosis, he has undoubtedly led a “full” life: he has continued his acting profession, launched a popular podcast, and valued the additional family time he had during the pandemic’s quarantine phase. Alda made a quite modest complaint when asked by People about the toughest part of having Parkinson’s: “With stiff fingers, it can be difficult to tie shoelaces. “Picture yourself playing the violin while wearing mittens,” he said in jest.
Instead of attempting to be optimistic or wallow in pessimism, the actor says he focuses on overcoming each challenge head-on. “It serves no purpose to be positive or negative about anything. You just have to ride the uncertainty that we only have. He defended it before AARP. “The silver lining is that I keep growing more confident that I can always find a workaround,” he subsequently said to People. I’m certain now more than ever that life is changing, modifying, and editing.
Seven years into his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, Alda told People he is still doing well. I’m feeling good and moving on, he told the newspaper. I’m doing everything I can to slow down Parkinson’s disease because it can be slowed down with effort, he said. In addition to “getting ready for my podcast, chasing the geese off my grass, playing chess with Arlene [his wife of 65 years], and binge-watching Scandinavian TV series,” according to his daily schedule, he spends a lot of time working out and receiving physical therapy.
He asserts that he must engage in the activity to maintain his well-being. Alda asserts that by exercising on a treadmill while paying attention to his physical fitness, he is better able to preserve motor skill control. “I frequently move to the music. A man with experience in Parkinson’s therapy teaches me boxing. I finish a rigorous workout designed just for this situation. Nothing is lost if you are given this diagnosis.
Alda asserts that he made the decision to be open about his condition in order to offer a novel interpretation of what a Parkinson’s diagnosis can mean. According to him, one of the reasons I talk about it in public is because it has helped remove some stigmas. I know people who have recently been diagnosed who feel like their lives have ended and who are frightened and unhappy, he told the Wall Street Journal. “Depression is a common response, but it’s not necessary. Even though things can get worse, your life is still very much possible.
The Marriage Story actor claims that he keeps his personal perspective on life light by laughing whenever he can. “Laugh! Laughing is beneficial. This pandemic isolation has that as one of its main benefits. With my wife, I’m laughing more than ever. Laughing makes you weak. You are growing increasingly open to attack. You are not protected… Yet being receptive to advantages is incredibly beneficial. He said, “You let the other person in, and it pulls us all closer. We can’t take ourselves too seriously even now.”
