Alan Alda, who survived polio at age 7, described managing Parkinson’s disease as ‘a full-time job.’ BY: MEGA
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Alan Alda has faced several health challenges over the years.
The 90-year-old actor and filmmaker has spoken openly about his experiences, from surviving childhood polio to managing Parkinson’s disease later in life.
As he remains active in the entertainment industry, here’s a closer look at the conditions he has endured and how they have affected his daily routine.
Alan Alda Battled Polio at Age 7
The M*A*S*H alum contracted polio at age 7 before a vaccine was available.
During a 1997 interview on Fresh Air, host Terry Gross asked Alda about the early symptoms he experienced after contracting the viral disease.
“It seemed like a bad cold. I was in a — we were in a movie theater that night, the first night that I got it, and it was a crowded theater,” he recalled. “My father worked for Warner Brothers, so we always went to the same theater on Hollywood Boulevard, the Warner’s Theater, because he could get in free there. He was on a term contract and making basically nothing a week.”
At the time, he repeatedly blew his nose and thought he only had a common cold.
After returning home, Alda began vomiting and developed flu-like symptoms. His mother, who had read about polio symptoms in newspapers and magazines, suspected he had contracted the disease and promptly sought medical attention.
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“By the next morning a doctor was there. And by that time my neck was stiff already. You know, your muscles just contract,” he shared. “And the other woman who saved my life was Elizabeth Kenney, the nurse, although I never met her. She was a nurse in Africa, Sister Kenney, who discovered a cure, a treatment for polio. This was before there was a vaccine. And if you got it, you either died of it or you were paralyzed, until Sister Kenney realized that you could get the muscles that had contracted because of this disease, you could get them to open up again through heat and massage.”
The Primetime Emmy-winning actor continued, “So my life was saved partly by my mother’s being aware, by reading the papers, and partly by this woman in Australia who just wouldn’t shut up when doctors told her to.”
It echoed what he told ABC News in September 2005, detailing the painful treatment he went through after contracting polio as a child.
“I know everybody thinks that they’re great but I think it’s some kind of torture,” Alda said of the “painful” physical therapy he received.
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In addition to using extremely hot blankets, he told The Guardian he followed an intensive swimming routine as part of his polio treatment.
“As part of the therapy, I swam seven hours a day. I fully recovered,” he said.
Decades later, Alda told CBS Sunday Morning‘sDr. Jon LaPook it was “pretty hard to experience.”
Alan Alda Was Diagnosed With Parkinson’s Disease in 2015
Alda revealed during a 2018 appearance on CBS This Morning that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2015 and had lived a “full life” since then.
He continued, “I had been on television a lot in the last couple of weeks talking about the new podcast – and I could see my thumb twitch in some shots. And I thought, it’s probably only a matter of time before somebody does a story about this from a sad point of view, but that’s not where I am.”
The California Suite actor also reflected on the health condition on X, uploading a GIF of himself juggling alongside the caption, “I decided to let people know I have Parkinson’s to encourage others to take action. I was Diagnosed 3 and a half years ago, but my life is full. I act, I give talks, I do my podcast, which I love. If you get a diagnosis, keep moving!”
He also discussed his exercise routine, saying, “I take boxing lessons 3 days a week, play singles tennis twice a week, and take a mild pill – all Dr. recommended. I even juggle a little. And I’m not entering dementia. I’m no more demented than I was before. Maybe I should rephrase that. Really, I’m good.”
Alda shared further details about the symptoms he experienced in a 2020 interview with AARP.
According to the award-winning actor, he first suspected he had Parkinson’s in 2015 after reading a New York Times article about an unusual early symptom that causes people to physically act out their dreams.
“I realized I had done just that. I had dreamed somebody was attacking me, and in the dream I threw a sack of potatoes at him. In reality, I threw a pillow at my wife. So, believing there was a good chance I had Parkinson’s, I went to a neurologist and asked for a brain scan,” he said.
Although a neurologist initially found no obvious symptoms, Alda insisted on undergoing a brain scan that ultimately confirmed his diagnosis.
When asked how he reacted to the diagnosis, Alda said he “began to exercise.”
He explained, “A lot of people hear they have Parkinson’s and get depressed and panicky and don’t do anything, just hoping it’ll go away. It’s not going to, but you can hold off the worst symptoms. Movement helps: walking, biking, treadmills. But also specific things: I move to music a lot. I take boxing lessons from a guy trained in Parkinson’s therapy. I do a full workout specifically designed for this disease. It’s not the end of the world when you get this diagnosis.”
Alan Alda Spoke Candidly About Living With Parkinson’s Disease
In May 2025, Alda told People he was “making progress” in managing his condition before adding, “I didn’t say in which direction.”
“Almost every day I’m finding a new way to do something,” he shared. “It’s a little like a game. I’ve found whatever the little problem is, if I keep at it, I can eventually solve it, and then I feel like a million bucks. It’s a way to have a good time under poor circumstances.”
At the time, he described managing Parkinson’s as going “from a part-time job to almost a full-time job keeping track of all these little solutions. But it keeps me always looking for the funny side.”
The report also noted that Alda has prosopagnosia, commonly known as face blindness, which makes it difficult for him to recognize familiar faces.
More than a year later, Alda said he is learning to accept living with Parkinson’s.
“I really think reality is my friend,” he told CBS News on October 4. “I don’t want to wish it away. I can’t wish it away. I can’t hope for a better future. I gotta accept what is.”
Alan Alda Also Had REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
In the same CBS Mornings interview, Alda recalled physically “acting out [his] dreams,” which is “not that well-known symptom” of the neurodegenerative disease.
“I had a symptom, which at the time was not that well-known: Acting out your dreams,” Alda disclosed. “I had a dream that somebody was attacking me. And I picked up a sack of potatoes and threw it at ’em. What I was really doing was throwing a pillow at Arlene, my wife… I had no twitch, no tremor, no problems with my voice.”
Alda’s experience was consistent with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a condition that is associated with Parkinson’s. However, not everyone with RBD develops the neurological condition.
