Actor Alan Alda has opened up about how he was diagnosed with Parkinson's three years ago.
Speaking about why he decided to reveal his illness now, the 82-year-old actor said that he recently noticed his thumb twitch during some TV interviews and feared that a tabloid might pick-up on this and speculate on his heath.
Alan Alda, who for many will be best remembered for playing Hawkeye in the TV series M*A*S*H, insists that he's being living a "full life" since he was diagnosed with the disease.
"I started this new podcast [Clear+Vivid]. And I noticed that - 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," he revealed yesterday during a TV interview with the CBS network.
"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.'"
Alda said he decided to get tested for the disease after reading an article about it.
"I read an article by Jane Brody in the New York Times that indicated that if you act out your dreams there's a good chance that might be a very early symptom where nothing else shows," he explained.
"By acting out your dreams I mean I was having a dream that someone was attacking me and I threw a sack of potatoes at them - but what I was really doing was throwing a pillow at my wife!
"The doctor said, 'Why do you want a scan? You don't have any symptoms'. And I said, 'I want to know if there's anything I can do - I want to do it before things start to show up'. And so months later a little twitch in my thumb..."

NEW: Actor @AlanAlda just revealed he has Parkinson's disease. The award-winning actor says he was diagnosed with the disease three and a half years ago. https://t.co/cYba2YKewS (via @CBSThisMorning) pic.twitter.com/OpIUBvCKWi

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 31, 2018

He added: "The thing I want folks to know, and this is not to short-change people who are suffering with really severe symptoms - symptoms can get very bad and their families can suffer...
"But in the very beginning, to be immobilised by fear and think the worst thing has happened to you... It hasn't happened to you; you still have things you can do.
"I'm taking boxing lessons three times a week. I do singles tennis a couple of times a week. I march to Sousa music because marching to march music is good for Parkinson's."
"I enjoy solving puzzles, it's really fun. I'm not angry. It's a challenge. You've got to cross the street, there are cars coming. How do you cross the street? You find a way to do it."