What Michael J. Fox Just Admitted About His Health

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00:00Michael J. Fox has shared an update on his health and his life with Parkinson's disease.

00:05Back to the Future star Fox was first diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991,

00:09when he was 29 years old, and has been very open about his experiences with the disease.

00:15Speaking to People in 1999 about the moment he knew something was wrong,

00:19he shared that he noticed his little finger twitching while on a movie set.

00:23He then learned his diagnosis from a doctor and called it,

00:26incomprehensible that he had Parkinson's, though it came with some good news as the doctor claimed

00:31he would be able to function for years and years. But the next few years brought more problems as

00:36the disease took more of a hold, and Fox began to experience more stiffness and tremors on his left

00:41side. Fox continued to work, though, acting in several TV shows and movies before retiring in 2020.

00:48Fox opened up about the decision in his book,

00:50No Time Like the Future. An optimist considers mortality, admitting,

00:55Not being able to speak reliably is a game-breaker for an actor, while also sharing he was having

01:01trouble remembering lines. He wrote,

01:03There is a time for everything, and my time of putting in a 12-hour workday and memorizing seven

01:09pages of dialogue is best behind me. While he left open the possibility of a return to acting,

01:15he maintains that he was at peace with his decision. Now he's sharing some great news about his health,

01:20what he's really doing, decades after his diagnosis. Speaking in an interview with AARP the magazine,

01:26Fox shared that he's doing, quote,

01:28above average for a brain-damaged man. He said he beat the odds after originally being told by a doctor

01:34he'd only be able to work for around a decade after his diagnosis. He, instead, continued to work

01:40for around 30 years.

01:41Great Scott!

01:43Fox joked that he's, quote, kind of a freak, adding,

01:47It's weird that I've done as well as I have for as long as I have.

01:50He also noted the extent to which Parkinson's affects him can change from day to day, saying,

01:55The disease is this thing that's attached to my life. It isn't the driver. And because I have assets,

02:01I have access to things others don't. The star also shared that he gets through the darker times

02:06by being grateful for what he has, sharing,

02:09I am genuinely a happy guy. I don't have a morbid thought in my head. I don't fear death. At all.

02:15If you don't think you have anything to be grateful for, keep looking.

02:18The star has been very active in helping others with the disease over the years,

02:22founding the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which celebrated 20 years of work in October.

02:27Fox told People at the time,

02:29The disease is a problem that will be there until you solve it. But we're hopeful.

02:33Michael J. Fox's time with Parkinson's disease certainly hasn't been without its challenges,

02:38including a difficult time after a surgery in 2018 that saw him break his arm.

02:43Fox opened up about the incident, which he described as being his bottom,

02:47to Good Morning America, recalling feeling, quote,

02:50so useless. Fox called the accident pointless, stupid, and avoidable, adding,

02:56I have to think before I walk. I can't just get up and go because I don't have much control of my

03:01momentum and control of my direction. He also recalled the low moment in a 2020 interview

03:06with USA Today, admitting he felt like an idiot after the injury. And he also began to doubt his

03:11own tendency toward optimism. Fox said to himself,

03:15All this time you've been telling everybody to be optimistic, chin up, and you're miserable now.

03:20There's nothing but pain and regret. There's no way to put a shine on this.

03:24Fox had to fight hard to get himself back to the positive place he's in today,

03:28admitting that although he still very much believed being positive was his best way of staying

03:33healthy, the injury made him severely question that outlook. Speaking to AARP the magazine,

03:39Michael J. Fox also opened up about whether or not he expects there to be a cure for Parkinson's

03:43disease in his lifetime. His response, not optimistic, was,

03:47I'm really blunt with people about cures. I'm 60 years old, and science is hard. So, no.

03:53But that doesn't mean he's giving up hope completely, and it certainly doesn't mean he's not trying.

03:58Speaking about the Michael J. Fox Foundation, he shared what he founded all those years ago has

04:03since become this giant network of patients, scientists, and institutions. He added that

04:09patients are the key to finding a cure, helping to, quote,

04:13identify the disease in people before symptoms are evident, and to treat it proactively and get

04:18rid of it. Fox previously shared how pleasantly surprised he was by the response from the public

04:23after he shared his diagnosis. He told Entertainment Tonight in October that people responded with

04:28interest in the desire to find an answer to the disease. He felt as though he had been given a

04:33great opportunity and didn't want to squander it. But while it could take a while for a cure for

04:39Parkinson's, there's no doubting Fox's tireless efforts. As an inspiration to others for decades now,

04:45it's no surprise that the selfless actor is the 2022 AARP Purpose Prize honoree.

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