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Alan Alda Gives Update on Parkinson’s Disease Battle: ‘I Shake a Little, But I’m Good’
Actor Alan Alda is keeping his health in check. After revealing he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2018, the 83-year-old star recently admitted on Today that he’s doing everything in his power to keep himself healthy.
“I’m good. I shake a little, but I’m good. I work out,” he said on the talk show. “You can hold back the progress if you do a lot of specific exercises, so I do a lot of crazy things.”
Among the numerous “crazy things” that Alan does, he said he has taken up boxing, juggling, tennis, swimming, bike riding and marching.
“I march to Sousa music,” he joked, while referring to composer John Philip Sousa. “Lotta Sousa music going on all the time in my house.”
Not only that but Alan also admits he focuses on his work so he wouldn’t think about his disease as much. “I feel good,” he said. “I work so hard, I guess that’s part of it. I feel like a kid because I’m working so hard.”
Alan can also count on his loving wife, Arlene Alda, for support whenever he needs it. In early October, the Mash alum revealed the secret to his 62-year marriage with Arlene. “My wife says the secret of a long marriage is a short memory,” he joked to Closer Weekly, before adding, it “seems to work.”
Arlene has stuck by Alan’s side through thick and thin and she doesn’t plan on leaving him anytime soon. “Without her, I wouldn’t do an awful lot because every time I’m leaving the house to do some work, she says, ‘You’re going to be great.’ And I say the same thing to her. She’s a writer and a photographer, busy all the time, and I’m very proud of her,’” The Four Seasons star said.
As far as what his future holds for him, Alan is just making sure he has everything he needs to make it through the day. “I really have never made plans for the future,” he previously told People. “My life is more of an improvisation. I just try to make the best of what’s in front of me.”
