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Alan Alda reveals Parkinson’s disease

Former MASH star remains upbeat as he shares personal news for the sake of an important message.

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Veteran US actor Alan Alda has revealed he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

The 82-year-old, best known for his role as Army Capt. “Hawkeye” Pierce in MASH, told CBS he was diagnosed three and a half years ago.

“I’ve had a full life since then,” he said. “I’ve acted, I’ve given talks, I help at the Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook [University]. I started this new podcast. 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 stressed that a diagnosis is not the end of the world.

“In the very beginning to be immobilised by fear and to think the worst thing has happened to you, it hasn’t happened to you. You still have things you can do,” he said, going on to share that today he takes boxing lessons several times each week and plays singles tennis.

“Mostly everybody is different and each day is different from the next. One day you wake up and think, oh, it’s over, it’s gone, the next day it’s back and a little worse,” he said.

Parkinsons Australia

Source: Huffington Post

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