Alan Alda Reflects On Life With Parkinson’s

In a conversation from 2018, Alan Alda discusses how being a science communicator makes him think differently about a life-changing diagnosis.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Speaker 00

  A Parkinson's diagnosis can be scary, but actor Alan Alda looks at it a little differently.

• 0:08Speaker 01

  If you get a diagnosis of Parkinson's, 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.

• 0:21Speaker 00

  It's Friday, November 29th, and you're listening to Science Friday. I'm Sci-Fire producer Dee Peterschmidt. 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 Flora with more.

• 0:57Ira Flatow?

  Alan Alda has had many roles in life, on stage, television, and in the movies. More recently, as a teacher of communication at the Alan 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.

• 1:21Speaker 01

  The plus sign is supposed to mean and.

• 1:24Ira Flatow?

  Oh, and. I'm such a nerd. I look at the plus sign and I say, it's a plus.

• 1:28Speaker 01

  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 I better... I've been talking on television a few times lately about Clear and Vivid, to 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

• 2:12Speaker 01

  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 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's, 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 terrible. And then they're thinking of the worst-case scenario.

• 2:57Speaker 01

  And most people, or 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, you know, declaring to another person, like, someone who can give you physical therapy and that kind of, 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

• 3:41Speaker 01

  I think it's not a good idea. You don't get, 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.

• 4:03Ira Flatow?

  Well, you said that you've had it three and a half years. Why now talk about it?

• 4:09Speaker 01

  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 doing, I'm helping with the Alder Center for Communicating Science.

• 4:41Speaker 01

  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.

• 4:47Ira Flatow?

  We're glad for you.

• 4:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, but so-

• 4:50Ira Flatow?

  And you're still active? You're still playing? I understand you play tennis for me?

• 4:53Speaker 01

  Well, see, it's not just that I'm still active. I deliberately do these things-

• 4:57Ira Flatow?

  Oh, you do?

• 4:58Speaker 01

  Because they're important to slow the progress of Parkinson's. I play tennis. I try to play tennis singles twice a week.

• 5:06Ira Flatow?

  Better than I could.

• 5:08Speaker 01

  I take boxing lessons three times a week. Boxing is particularly good for Parkinson's. And I march to John Philip Sousa music and I juggle.

• 5:23Ira Flatow?

  I saw that. I saw the video of you juggling.

• 5:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's on Twitter.

• 5:26Ira Flatow?

  How long did it take to learn how to do that?

• 5:28Speaker 01

  Well, I learned when I was 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.

• 5:43Ira Flatow?

  I saw that. I saw that.

• 5:45Speaker 01

  If you can't do it, make a GIF.

• 5:47Ira Flatow?

  You have to start spinning those plates now.

• 5:52Ira Flatow?

  I heard you say that you were prompted to get tested from reading something in The Times.

• 5:56Speaker 01

  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're asleep, you physically act it 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

• 6:39Speaker 01

  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.

• 7:19Ira Flatow?

  And your reaction?

• 7:21Speaker 01

  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, 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.

• 7:53Ira Flatow?

  Right.

• 7:54Speaker 01

  You know, you've got something you have to do. It's a, for me, it's a puzzle to be solved. And I, 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.

• 8:09Ira Flatow?

  I got in there early.

• 8:11Speaker 01

  And in a moment of weakness, I said, yes. But I, I can't be Mr. Parkinson's. I have to do other things. But on my, on Clear and Vivid, the podcast, I, 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, and how we all regard it. It would be helpful, it would be healthier for people if we didn't regard it as such a catastrophe at first, right off the bat.

• 8:46Ira Flatow?

  I'm Ira Flatow. This is Science Friday from WNIC Studios. Talking with Alan Alda, who is, he's got 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.

• 9:06Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 9:07Ira Flatow?

  You want to go on with the rest of your life.

• 9:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, 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 its 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, I'm not going to make, 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, I'm awash with things to do.

• 9:43Ira Flatow?

  You look great.

• 9:44Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 9:45Ira Flatow?

  I, you know, would have never known that you, you know, that, it's obvious you don't have an advanced case of Parkinson's.

• 9:52Speaker 01

  Right, right.

• 9:53Ira Flatow?

  And, you know, you're very active and, 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.

• 10:02Speaker 01

  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.

• 10:16Ira Flatow?

  Wow.

• 10:17Speaker 01

  So it, I would like to see, and I think to some extent, judging by what I see on Twitter, there has been a response to this, this disclosure I made, which is helping other people focus on some of the useful facts about it.

• 10:34Ira Flatow?

  Well, 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.

• 10:40Speaker 01

  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, one of the great things about good communication is if you make it personal, it sticks better.

• 10:56Ira Flatow?

  Right.

• 10:57Speaker 01

  People hear it and they, 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, in generalities, I've told a personal story and I think that may help.

• 11:19Ira Flatow?

  It does help. And it helps, it helps us to communicate with you and thank you for taking time to come in and talk about it. I'm glad I got my phone call in early.

• 11:28Speaker 01

  You were pretty quick.

• 11:30Ira Flatow?

  You answered it right away. It was great to hear it.

• 11:33Speaker 01

  Well, that's because I like you.

• 11:34Ira Flatow?

  Exactly. That makes one, see, that makes one person. Alan, thank you very much.

• 11:40Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 11:40Ira Flatow?

  Stay in touch. Alan Alder, who is host of the new podcast, Clear and Vivid, and of course, he is also head of the Alan Alder Center for Communicating Science. Thanks again, Alan.

• 11:54Speaker 00

  And that's it for today's episode. Lots of people helped make the show happen, including.

• 11:58Speaker 03

  Jordan Smudgic. Charles Bergquist. George Harper.

• 12:02Speaker 00

  John Dankoski. On our next episode, we continue our 33rd anniversary with Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022 for her groundbreaking research that could change the way we think about side effects from drugs. I'm sci-fi producer Dee Peterschmidt. Thanks for listening.