Michael J Fox New interview maintaining Optimism

hollydolly

hollydolly

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Location
London England
Firstly.. this new Interview with Michael has me stunned to see that his PD is almost out of control. We've been lead to believe over the last few years that Michael takes drugs which stop or at least keep the Tremors and shakes in Abeyance.. this is clearly not the case while being interviewed.

How this man ( albeit with a huge great back up team).. has endured this exhausting illness for 30 years is beyond most people's comprehension..it's exhausting just to watch for a few minutes, can you imagine having this level of disability .. and also working hard for much of those 30 years.. ?


 

Alligatorob said:
Having lost some family members and friends to Parkinson's I am a combination of awed by and curious about him.

No one I know has lived anything like 30 years with it. Why him? Does he have a different form of it, or could others with his level of care do as well?
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That's the same questions i have too..Rob.. because my father had PD.. and died not of Parkinsons but because of the other things it causes...in his case strokes... In Michaels' case he says he's broken just about every bone in his body because of falls, and he feels strongly that's what will kill him.. ..I feel that his high level of care from so many different areas.. has contrbuted greatly to his long life with this insidious disease..
 

There are different levels or types of Parkinson’s. I saw the interview with him on CBS, I believe it was. I had 2 uncles, both of my mom’s brothers died from Parkinson’s. That doesn’t make me an expert on the disease, but it has been discussed in our home for many hours. Both brothers had the most aggrestype of the disease. One thing that was repeated over and over was not to upset them. When they are upset or strained, it brings out the worse in the illness, so it only makes sense that when he is on TV, his Parkinson’s can be at its worse.

When M.J. set up the foundation, our family got involved by starting a local chapter of the foundation and donating ‘x’ amount of money each year. Michael did appear for our yearly drive in 2009. He had his wife with him, she is actually his main handler, if you want to refer to her as that term as the emcee did, but he calls her his lifeline. They make a great couple.

When he spoke to the crowd here, he never complained or asked “Why me?” Michael was very positive and he is convinced that someday research will find a cure. I remember during the interview, he added that he probably would not live past 80. He added, “You don’t die from Parkinson’s, you die with Parkinson’s. He also added that he was tired of the broken bones, so he had no choice but to call it quits for acting.
 
Alligatorob said:
Having lost some family members and friends to Parkinson's I am a combination of awed by and curious about him.

No one I know has lived anything like 30 years with it. Why him? Does he have a different form of it, or could others with his level of care do as well?
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The younger you are when the disease is found, the chances of living longer are greater. I cried when he came out on stage to speak to the large group we were able to amass and before he spoke. I was surprised to see him come out on stage in a wheelchair, but then got up and walked about 20 feet to the chair where he sat to speak to the audience. He wasn’t shaking significantly, but you could tell he wasn’t comfortable.
 
Moon Rat said:
There are different levels or types of Parkinson’s. I saw the interview with him on CBS, I believe it was. I had 2 uncles, both of my mom’s brothers died from Parkinson’s. That doesn’t make me an expert on the disease, but it has been discussed in our home for many hours. Both brothers had the most aggrestype of the disease. One thing that was repeated over and over was not to upset them. When they are upset or strained, it brings out the worse in the illness, so it only makes sense that when he is on TV, his Parkinson’s can be at its worse.

When M.J. set up the foundation, our family got involved by starting a local chapter of the foundation and donating ‘x’ amount of money each year. Michael did appear for our yearly drive in 2009. He had his wife with him, she is actually his main handler, if you want to refer to her as that term as the emcee did, but he calls her his lifeline. They make a great couple.

When he spoke to the crowd here, he never complained or asked “Why me?” Michael was very positive and he is convinced that someday research will find a cure. I remember during the interview, he added that he probably would not live past 80. He added, “You don’t die from Parkinson’s, you die with Parkinson’s. He also added that he was tired of the broken bones, so he had no choice but to call it quits for acting.
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he said almost those exact words in this recent interview... including that he will never see 80... but tbh, he was very hard to understand now..
 
It was heartbreaking watching him and it made me cry. I enjoyed him so much over the years. It is so sad what happened to him. My grandfather had Parkinson's disease and it is really hard to deal with.:cry:
 
After reading this I did some research, it is an awful disease, but apparently one diagnosed from symptoms, there is not test of Parkinson's, so we probably don't always know who has it and who does not.

Apparently there maybe a link between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's they are similar diseases. Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease: distinct entities or extremes of a spectrum of neurodegeneration? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9749570/

And its the only disease I know of where nicotine is beneficial. So maybe if you develop Parkinson's symptoms you should start smoking?? Beneficial effects of nicotine, cotinine and its metabolites as potential agents for Parkinson’s disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4288130/

It's a nasty one, and I fear may be in my future, my paternal grandfather died of it at age 94. My father may have died of it at age 85, but I'm not sure, he died in a deep depression following my brother's suicide. I think it may be hard to separate those symptoms...
 
Alligatorob said:
After reading this I did some research, it is an awful disease, but apparently one diagnosed from symptoms, there is not test of Parkinson's, so we probably don't always know who has it and who does not.

Apparently there maybe a link between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's they are similar diseases. Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease: distinct entities or extremes of a spectrum of neurodegeneration? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9749570/

And its the only disease I know of where nicotine is beneficial. So maybe if you develop Parkinson's symptoms you should start smoking?? Beneficial effects of nicotine, cotinine and its metabolites as potential agents for Parkinson’s disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4288130/

It's a nasty one, and I fear may be in my future, my paternal grandfather died of it at age 94. My father may have died of it at age 85, but I'm not sure, he died in a deep depression following my brother's suicide. I think it may be hard to separate those symptoms...
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2 things Rob... Michael addressed this in the interview.. he said that there's hopes that within the next 5 years there will be a test available for Parkinsons...

..and secondly, my father smoked from the age of 9 years old.. all his life.. and got PD.. so smoking is definitely not the answer
 
Alligatorob said:
Thanks Holly, I didn't really believe it was, more likely it's just not a contributing factor.

A test would be a good thing. I believe it would be progress towards better treatment.

What age was your father when he was diagnosed? Did it kill him?
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He was in his late 60's... and no the PD didn't kill him, it never does, it's not an actual killer... it's the effects of it that causes death, and in my fathers' case.. a series of strokes, which apparently is very common in PD sufferers..
 
Michael was diagnosed young which explains the number of years he’s had it. No doubt being wealthy gives him access to the best of care. It also gives him the stage to bring attention to the disease.

For years he played a reoccurring role on The Good Fight as a conniving lawyer with an unnamed motor disease.

There’s hope for younger people. They can now do Deep Brain Stimulation surgery. A young fellow I met is improving each time. He still has some obvious errant movements, but speech therapy is really helping.

My husband has Parkinson’s so I’m learning too much about it.
 
Jules said:
Michael was diagnosed young which explains the number of years he’s had it. No doubt being wealthy gives him access to the best of care. It also gives him the stage to bring attention to the disease.

For years he played a reoccurring role on The Good Fight as a conniving lawyer with an unnamed motor disease.

There’s hope for younger people. They can now do Deep Brain Stimulation surgery. A young fellow I met is improving each time. He still has some obvious errant movements, but speech therapy is really helping.

My husband has Parkinson’s so I’m learning too much about it.
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Jules I'm sorry to hear your husband has PD... how long has he been diagnosed ?
 
Jules said:
Since 2018. In hindsight, there were other little signs.
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yes that's what my father said about his too... .

I have a neighbour who is only in his late 40's or very early 50's who has it too.. he lives alone but he gets out a lot to walk.. and I always worry that he'll fall.. . he does the classic fast shuffle like someone's pushed him from behind , and then suddenly there's a short in his Brain and he's frozen to the spot for anything up to about 10 minutes..
 
I watch re-runs of Family Ties quite often and it's sad to compare what he once was compared to the present. I think his activism is part of what keeps him going instead of sitting home and sulking.
 
Chet said:
I watch re-runs of Family Ties quite often and it's sad to compare what he once was compared to the present. I think his activism is part of what keeps him going instead of sitting home and sulking.
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taking what you said literally Chet, .. actual sitting .. as he said.. is far more difficult than moving around,,, but yes with his Wife and family and his Myriad of helpers and doctors, plus having 'employers' still giving him work.. , I'm sure that's what's kept him looking positively all these years
 
I wonder if he would be a candidate for the deep brain simulator that stops the tremors associated with parkinsons, I know a doctor that does that and it is amazing to see the before an after of a person that has parkinsons.One min they are shaking and the simulator is turned on by what looks like a remote pointed at their chest area and the tremors stops.
 
perplexed said:
I wonder if he would be a candidate for the deep brain simulator that stops the tremors associated with parkinsons, I know a doctor that does that and it is amazing to see the before an after of a person that has parkinsons.One min they are shaking and the simulator is turned on by what looks like a remote pointed at their chest area and the tremors stops.
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Never heard of that, sounds promising.
 
God love him. It's so sad. I didn't watch the interview and probably won't. There was a time he had the world in the palm of his hands. Like my mother always said "You never know what you're coming to in this life."
 
from the mail today....

Actor Michael J Fox said last month that he feared partying too hard in the 1980s could have led to his Parkinson's disease diagnosis.

The 61-year-old, who became an A-lister following the success of Back to the Future in 1985, said he believes drinking and other 'chemicals' may have increased his chance of developing the disease.

Last year, actor and old friend Woody Harrelson presented Fox with an honorary Oscar. Harrelson said about his friend that 'we did some damage.'

Though never proven that was the cause, research suggests that a number of recreational drugs can result in symptoms similar to Parkinson's.

70632249-12034525-The_above_drugs_and_chemicals_found_in_common_goods_have_been_lo-a-22_1683462855126.jpg


Parkinson's is caused by the death of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra — deep in the organ near the brain stem — which are responsible for producing dopamine.

Dopamine is a vital chemical that acts as a messenger between the parts of the brain and nervous systems that help control and coordinated body movements.

The lack of dopamine causes symptoms such as tremors, slow movements, muscle stiffness, impaired balance, speech changes, and writing changes.

Though researchers are still working to identify direct causes of Parkinson's, there are several factors that can increase the chance of developing the condition.

'There's so many ways that you can, that I could've hurt myself. I could've hit my head. I could've drank too much at a certain developmental period. Most likely I think is, that I was exposed to some kind of chemical,' Fox told CBS Sunday Morning last month.

Drugs like cocaine, meth, and MDMA affect similar areas of the brain that are impacted by Parkinson's. There is no suggestion that Fox did any of those drugs, but he has spoken in the past about alcohol and prescription pill addiction after receiving his diagnosis in 1991, when he was just 29 years old.

In 1998, he made his struggle with the disease public, shocking the world as it disrupted his bright acting career.

read more here...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12034525/Chemicals-cause-Parkinsons-REVEALED.html
 
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