Alan Alda has said that a sleep disorder surfaced even before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
The MASH* star said that he began acting out his dreams — a symptom that pointed to a neurological disorder.
Alan Alda recalls acting out his dreams before being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease
Speaking with CBS News’ Sunday Morning, Alda explained that acting out dreams is a lesser-known symptom of Parkinson’s disease. The 90-year-old said that he was diagnosed in 2015 after he told his doctor to test him. The unusual sleep behavior led him to investigate the matter even before the diagnosis.
“I had a dream that somebody was attacking me. And I picked up a sack of potatoes and threw it at ’em,” Alda recalled. “What I was really doing was throwing a pillow at Arlene, my wife.”
Alda also said that he had none of the symptoms that are usually associated with Parkinson’s. “I had no twitch, no tremor, no problems with my voice,” he revealed.
The unusual behavior is associated with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a condition in which people can physically act out dreams. The condition occurs when the normal muscle paralysis during REM sleep does not work properly.
Medical experts have identified RBD as an early warning sign associated with Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative conditions. However, having RBD does not automatically equate to having Parkinson’s.
Alda eventually went public with his diagnosis in 2018 after he noticed a twitch in his thumb. He has since discussed his disease openly and tried to adapt to it rather than letting it define his life.
The actor said humor continues to help him deal with the condition’s everyday challenges.
“I’ll be at the computer keyboard writing an email, and Dr. Parkinson is moving my hand all over the screen. I have the mouse, and he’s eliminating things, and he’s deleting things that I need,” he said with a laugh.
“Once in a while, I get frustrated,” Alda continued. “But I find what makes me laugh about it, and then I go tell Arlene.”
