Michael J. Fox has funded almost $2 billion for Parkinson’s research and now claims that a solution is ‘near than it’s ever been.’
The actor and campaigner began experiencing early-onset Parkinson’s disease symptoms in 1991 and was diagnosed shortly thereafter. The NHS defines the disease as “a condition in which parts of the brain deteriorate over time.”
Seven years later, he talked publicly about his illness and has been an outspoken supporter of research.
The 61-year-old addressed Lorraine Kelly on her morning programme about the encouraging developments ahead in the search for a cure for the disease.
‘I feel it’s [a cure] closer than it’s ever been,’ he explained.
‘I think we’ve found this biomarker which is huge, identifying the disease and therefore being able to treat it earlier.
‘It was a gigantic breakthrough, we didn’t expect to make it this soon. We were working on it for a long time, ten years ago we talked about it.’
Michael appeared on the show to promote his new film Still, which chronicles his life with Parkinson’s illness and stars his wife Tracy Pollan, 62, and four adult children, Sam, Aquinnah, Schuyler, and Esmé.
Micheal remarked of his wife of 35 years, whom he met on the set of Family Ties, “She was amazing.”
‘When I met her I was kind of doing the show and I was just coming off the movie, everything in the world was mine. The world was my oyster, a hot shot,’ he added.
‘And then I met this girl from New York who just shut me down and straightened me out and I knew in that moment, that I was in love with her.’
He continued: ‘Tracy is one of the funniest people on this planet and my kids are all funny.
‘I think funny is our first response to anything. We say ‘What’s funny about this?’ It could be some colossal, horrible thing.
‘We love each other, we have a good time, we laugh a lot.
‘I’m thrilled with life, I love life. I’m a very happy person. It’s good, I’m 61 years old and that’s amazing in itself.’
He also discussed his hectic schedule back in the day when he was filming Back to the Future and Family Ties at the same time. ‘I don’t know how I did it,’ he said, before adding that he was ‘simply so hungry for it.’
Michael described his optimistic outlook on life.
‘I think it helps to be silly, I think you’ve got to be silly sometimes in the face of things that are really daunting and threatening,’ he told Lorraine.
‘And you have to be compassionate for the people around you, look at what they’re going through.’
Lorraine airs weekdays from 9am on ITV. Still is in cinemas and on Apple TV+ from today.
What is Parkinson’s Disease?
The NHS describes Parkinson’s Disease as ‘a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years.’ It is caused by ‘loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra. This leads to a reduction in a chemical called dopamine in the brain.’ It is most likely to affect people over 50.
Main symptoms include:
- Involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body (tremor)
- Slow movement
- Stiff and inflexible muscles
They can also experience:
- depression and anxiety
- balance problems (this may increase the chances of a fall)
- loss of sense of smell (anosmia)
- problems sleeping (insomnia)
- memory problems
See a GP if you’re concerned that you may have symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
