During a tell-all interview with CBS Sunday Morning, actor Michael J. Fox made a confession about his Parkinson’s Disease that no one saw coming. In the segment, the actor spoke about what it was like for him to live with the degenerative neurological disorder and what may have contributed to his developing it. Michael J. Fox confessed that it was “very possible” that he maybe “did some damage” to his brain and neurological system during the height of his fame in the 1980s.
Fox, who is currently sixty-one years old, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease back in 1991 when he was only twenty-nine years old. He revealed his diagnosis to the world nearly a decade later, in November 1998.
Throughout the CBS Sunday Morning interview, Michael J. Fox recalled highlights from his career, including the moment when actor Woody Harrelson presented Fox with an honorary Oscar Award back in November 2022. When he was presented with the award, Fox joked about how he and Harrelson “did some damage in the ’80s.”
During the interview with Jane Pauley, she wanted to follow up on Fox’s comment about whether or not it was “possible you did some damage” to his brain during the 1980s.
Although Fox was joking during the presentation of his award back in November, he made it very clear to Pauley that he might have contributed to his neurological decline by doing some damage during the height of his fame.
“Yeah, very possible,” Fox said. “I mean, there are so many ways that you can… that I could’ve hurt myself. I could’ve hit my head. I could’ve drank too much at a certain developmental period.”
Fox confirmed for CBS and the nation that his Parkinson’s diagnosis was likely the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In other words, he might have contributed to his neurological decline that was first detected in the early 1990s because he was living the star lifestyle.
Since his diagnosis, Fox has founded a Parkinson’s disease research foundation that aims to contribute monetary donations to research that could contribute to a cure or better treatments for Parkinson’s disease patients.
“Most likely, I think, that I was exposed to some kind of chemical. What we say is that genetics loads the gun, and environment pulls the trigger,” Fox said.
According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, “scientists believe a combination of genetic and environmental factors are the cause of Parkinson’s disease.” In other words, Fox might be right about the course of his degenerative disease and how it affected his mind to this day.
During the CBS Sunday Morning interview, Fox confessed that life is “getting harder,” and he does not expect to live to see eighty years old.
“I’m not going to lie. It’s getting hard. It’s getting harder. It’s getting tougher. Every day it is tougher. But that’s the way it is,” Fox said. He added that he had broken bones and undergone spinal surgery.
