Science Friday - Alan Alda Reflects On Life With Parkinson’s

Episode Date: November 29, 2024

In 2018, actor, author and science communicator Alan Alda spoke publicly about his diagnosis for Parkinson’s Disease. Alda, who is best known for his role in “M*A*S*H,” “The Aviator,” and ��The West Wing,” shifted his interests to science communication in his later years. He’s written several books on the topic, and has an ongoing podcast, “Clear + Vivid.”As part of Science Friday’s 33rd anniversary show, we’re revisiting our listeners’ favorite stories, including this one. Alda came on Science Friday in 2018 to talk about his life since his Parkinson’s diagnosis, and how being an advocate for science changes his perspective on his condition. Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

A Parkinson's diagnosis can be scary, but actor Alan Alda looks at it a little differently. If you get a diagnosis of Parkinson, it's not a good idea to think, oh, that's it. Everything is over. But many, many people have years to go. And it's a progressive disease, but you can slow the progress. It's Friday, November 29th, and you're listening to Science Friday. I'm CyFRI producer D. Peter Schmidt. For the next week, we're celebrating our 33rd anniversary with some of our listeners' favorite segments.

thanks to everyone who voted. First up is someone who's been on the program many times over the years, actor and science communicator Alan Alda. In 2018, he joined us just after he first publicly discussed his Parkinson's disease diagnosis. He talked about his life since then, how science informs his perspective on his condition, and what keeps him hopeful for the future. Here's Ira Fleda with more. Alan Alda has had many roles in life on stage, television, and in the movies.

More recently, as a teacher of communication, at the Allen Alda Center for Communicating Science. And this week, he stepped into a new role as a public figure diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Alan Alda is a friend of the show. He's also here to talk about it. He's got a new podcast, Clear Plus Vivid. Welcome back to Science Friday. The plus sign is supposed to mean and.

Oh, and? I'm such a nerd. I look at the plus sign. I say it's a plus. Yeah, it's clear and vivid, and I love it. I'm having such a good time. I'm interviewing such wonderful people. And just in the course, in the middle of all of that, I thought it was, I better, I've been talking on television a few times lately about clear and vivid, didn't let people know that the podcast exists.

And I noticed my thumb twitching a little bit. And I thought, it's clear that I got some neurological thing here. So I, after three and a half years of, it was three and a half years ago that I was diagnosed. and I didn't see any reason to talk about it. But now I want to make sure that if it's talked about, that I can get the story out my own way, which is a positive way. I'm a little concerned,

and I can tell what the culture thinks about Parkinson's because I hear it coming, and I have a special ear open for it. And I can, I feel very, very strongly that it's not a good idea to assume if somebody that you know gets or if you get a diagnosis of Parkinson, it's not a good idea to think, oh, that's it, everything is over. And that's what a lot of people think. Oh, my God.

Oh, I'm so sad. That's so terrible. And then they're thinking of the worst case scenario. And most people are many people anyway. I don't know what the figures are. but many, many people have years to go. And it's a progressive disease, but you can slow the progress. It doesn't go right to the worst possible outcome.

And if you don't get it early, if you're in fear of talking about it or acting on it or declaring to another person like someone who can give you physical therapy or that kind, or maybe a group that you have to go to where you're in a room full of people and you're kind of opening up on that part of your life. If you postpone because of that, because of the cultural bias against Parkinson's, then I think it's not a good idea. You don't slow down the progress, and it's not the end of everything for most people, I think. Now, that's not to say that there aren't families suffering with severe cases of Parkinson's,

and that's painful. But that picture doesn't have to. be the one that guides us when you get a diagnosis. You said that you've had it three and a half years. Why now talk about it? Well, as I said, I started to see my thumb twitch on television, and I figured it was only a matter of time before somebody puts out a sad story about me, you know. And I think it's much more important to get out a story.

Here's a guy who's been living with it for three and a half years. I've acted during that time. I get up in front of audiences and give talks. I'm helping with all the Center for Communicating Science. I'm doing my podcast. I'm having the best time. It's a hit. Isn't it great?

I'm so excited about it. We're glad for you. Yeah. And you're still active? You're still playing. I understand you play tennis? Well, see, it's not just that I'm still active. I deliberately do these things because they're important.

to slow the progress of Parkinson's. I play tennis. I try to play tennis singles twice a week. Better than I could. I take boxing lessons three times a week. Boxing is particularly good for Parkinson's. And I marched to John Philip Sousa music and I juggle. I saw that. I saw the video of you juggle. How long did it take to learn how to do that? Well, I learned when I was as a kid. And I'm getting back to it now. And I count the number of times I can keep the ball in the air. So I got up to 24 times. But I made a GIF so that it looks like I'm juggling forever. I saw that. I saw it. If you can't do it, make a gift. You have to start spinning those plates now. I heard you say that you were prompted to get tested from reading something in the Times.

Yeah, that's a wonderful example of communication, which, as you know, I'm obsessed with. Jane Brody wrote a column where she quoted two doctors, I guess they're neurologists, who found that among their patients having dreams in which you act out the dream while you were asleep, you physically acted out, is very often a sign before any other symptoms show up that you might have. Parkinson's. And so I noticed that at least on one occasion, actually several occasions, but one example was I had a dream that I was being attacked and I picked up a sack of potatoes and threw it at the attacker. And in actuality, I was throwing a pillow at my wife. I also fell out of bed twice in one week during that period. So when I read that column, I thought, this is,

I may have this, and I want to know if I got it. I went to a doctor, and I said, I want a brain scan. And he examined me, and he said, why do you want a brain scan? You don't have anything. And I said, well, I think I might, and I want to know if I've got it, because I want to take action. I want to do something, because I've read that there are things you can do. And he called me up and said, boy, you got it. And your reaction?

My reaction was I had to tell my family and calm them down. Because everybody tends to think, oh, my God, this is the worst thing that can happen. And it may turn out to be a terrible thing. Everybody's got a different flavor of this disease. It seems that no two people have exactly the same version of it. So I may turn out to have a terrible version of it, but I'm going to hold it off as long as I can. It's reality. Right.

You know, you've got something you have to do. for me it's a puzzle to be solved. And I'm not going to spend all my time talking about it publicly. I talked about it once on CBS. You got an email to me right away. Get in there early. And in a moment of weakness, I said yes. But I can't be Mr. Parkinson's.

I have to do other things. But on my clear and vivid, the podcast, I think I might deal with it on one episode. because there are a lot of communications questions about this, how you deal with your family, how you deal with the people who work with you, and that kind of thing. And how we all regard it, it would be helpful,

would be healthier for people if we didn't regard it as such a catastrophe at first, right off the bat. Myra Flater, this is Science Friday from WNIC Studios, talking with Alan Alda, who is a, also, he's got to, a new podcast clear and vivid out. And you say, is this going to be your last interview about this?

You say you don't want to become the voice or the face of Parkinson's disease and talk about it all the time. That's right. Go on and with the rest of your life. Yeah, well, and I haven't even got the time to do it. However, I am going to be talking to morning television shows in Australia and the United Kingdom about the podcast in the next few weeks. So this will probably come up. I can't avoid it. coming up, you know, in an ordinary interview because I do want people to know about the podcast. But I'm not, I'm not going to make a, I'm not going to, I can't, I can't show up and give speeches about it and that kind of thing. I have so many others. I'm, I'm a wash with things to do. You look great. Thank you. Thank you. I, you know, would have never known that you, you, you know,

it's obvious you don't have an advanced case of Parkinson's. Right, right. And, you know, you're very active and that's the way. And you are being proactive in saying, I need to do these things. That's an interesting point I hadn't heard before. Well, it turns out that the sooner you do something, the better. That's why it was good to know about, and I'm glad to have helped spread the word about the acting out of dreams, which I think is also called REM sleep disorder. Wow.

So I would like to seem, and I think to some extent, judging by what I see on. Twitter, there has been a response to this disclosure I made, which is helping other people focus on some of the useful facts about it. But, and you know, you are the best person to talk about it because you now have, the best part of your life now is being a communicator. It's so much fun for me to find out more about it and to see, and here's an example. You're right. This is an example of communication because one of the great things about good communication.

is if you make it personal, it sticks better. Right. People hear it and they internalize it because we're such social animals, I think. And so here's, instead of saying, the facts are early detection is good and exercise therapy is important. Instead of talking in generalities, I've told a personal story, and I think that may help. It does help. And it helps us to communicate with you and thank you.

Thank you for taking time to come in and talk about it. I'm glad I got my phone calling on your own. You were pretty quick. You answered it right away. It was great to hear it. Well, it's because I like you. That makes one. See, it makes one person.

Alan, thank you very much. Thank you. Good luck. Stay touch, Alan Alder, who is hosted the new podcast, clear and vivid. And, of course, he is also head of the Allen, Alde Center for Communicating Science. Thanks again, Al. And that's it for today's episode. lots of people help make the show happen, including

Jordan Smudjik, Charles Bergkwest, George Harper, John Dancosky. On our next episode, we continue our 33rd anniversary with Dr. Carolyn Bertotzi, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022 for her groundbreaking research and could change the way we think about side effects from drugs. I'm SciFri producer Dee Petersmith. Thanks for listening.