The veteran American actor Alan Alda, best known for playing Hawkeye in the TV series M*A*S*H, has revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease three-and-a-half years ago but has led "a full life since then".
In an interview with CBS This Morning in the US, the 82-year-old said of his life since his diagnosis: "I've acted, I've given talks, I help at the Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook [University, New York]."
NEW: Actor @AlanAlda just revealed he has Parkinson's disease. The award-winning actor says he was diagnosed with the disease three and a half years ago. https://t.co/cYba2YKewS (via @CBSThisMorning) pic.twitter.com/OpIUBvCKWi
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 31, 2018
Discussing his decision to reveal his diagnosis, Alda continued: "I started this new podcast [Clear+Vivid]. And I noticed that - I had been on television a lot in the last couple of weeks talking about the new podcast - and I could see my thumb twitch in some shots.
"And I thought, 'It's probably only a matter of time before somebody does a story about this from a sad point of view, but that's not where I am'."
Alda told the programme he had asked for a scan because he thought he might have Parkinson's after reading an article in the New York Times.
"I read an article by Jane Brody in the New York Times that indicated that if you act out your dreams there's a good chance that might be a very early symptom where nothing else shows.
"I asked for a scan because I thought I may have it... I didn't have any symptoms," Actor @AlanAlda says after revealing he has Parkinson's disease https://t.co/bQ3NPrawsy pic.twitter.com/28Bc2QMW16
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) July 31, 2018
"By acting out your dreams I mean I was having a dream that someone was attacking me and I threw a sack of potatoes at them - but what I was really doing was throwing a pillow at my wife!
"The doctor said, 'Why do you want a scan? You don't have any symptoms'. And I said, 'I want to know if there's anything I can do - I want to do it before things start to show up'. And so months later a little twitch in my thumb..."
Alda continued: "The thing I want folks to know, and this is not to short-change people who are suffering with really severe symptoms - symptoms can get very bad and their families can suffer...
"But in the very beginning, to be immobilised by fear and think the worst thing has happened to you... It hasn't happened to you; you still have things you can do."
"I'm taking boxing lessons three times a week," he enthused. "I do singles tennis a couple of times a week. I march to Sousa music because marching to march music is good for Parkinson's."
"I enjoy solving puzzles, it's really fun," Alda added. "I'm not angry. It's a challenge. You've got to cross the street, there are cars coming. How do you cross the street? You find a way to do it."
Alda, a six-time Emmy and six-time Golden Globe winner, has recently starred in The Good Wife spin-off, The Good Fight. It airs on RTÉ2 on Tuesday nights.
