<story><title>Michael J Fox: ‘Every step now is a frigging math problem, so I take it slow’</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/nov/21/michael-j-fox-every-step-now-is-a-frigging-math-problem-so-i-take-it-slow</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>interestica</author><text>&amp;gt; It is believed that a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as pesticides and pollution, may cause Parkinson’s; Fox later learned that at least four cast members of Leo &amp;amp; Me, a Canadian TV show he starred in as a teenager, also developed early-onset Parkinson’s. “But believe it or not, that’s not enough people to be defined as a cluster, so there hasn’t been much research into that. But it is interesting. I can think of a thousand possible scenarios: I used to go fishing in a river near paper mills and eat the salmon I caught; I’ve been to a lot of farms; I smoked a lot of pot in high school when the government was poisoning the crops. But you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out.”&lt;p&gt;Completely unfounded speculation, but I always wondered what the effect of the absolutely grueling schedule of simultaneously filming Family Ties and Back to the Future was. (Sleeping in cars, working til 7am, just a couple hours of sleep a night).&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Gale said that Fox&amp;#x27;s youth meant he could cope with less sleep than usual.
(&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Back_to_the_Future#Filming_with_Fox&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Back_to_the_Future#Filming_wit...&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;p&gt;They&amp;#x27;d already filmed half the movie and brought Fox in as the replacement. With so much on the line, did he take more than just coffee to keep going? Drug-induced &amp;#x27;Parkinsonism&amp;#x27; is a thing. Having it progress like typical Parkinson&amp;#x27;s is rare, but it happens. (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.parkinsons.org.uk&amp;#x2F;information-and-support&amp;#x2F;types-parkinsonism&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.parkinsons.org.uk&amp;#x2F;information-and-support&amp;#x2F;types-...&lt;/a&gt;).</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>DoreenMichele</author><text>Sleep Disturbance as Potential Risk and Progression Factor for Parkinson’s Disease&lt;p&gt;Emerging evidence from the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research implicates sleep quality as an important factor underlying risk and disease progression in this disorder [2, 3]. There is also evidence that the presence of sleep disturbances may increase the risk of developing PD.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&amp;#x2F;pmc&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;PMC6700634&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&amp;#x2F;pmc&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;PMC6700634&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;p&gt;The mechanism is even partially established. Serious sleep deprivation is known to elevate the levels of two proteins that are known to be risk factors for certain kinds of dementia, one of which is Tau (I don&amp;#x27;t recall the other):&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&amp;#x2F;pmc&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;PMC6360494&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&amp;#x2F;pmc&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;PMC6360494&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Michael J Fox: ‘Every step now is a frigging math problem, so I take it slow’</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/nov/21/michael-j-fox-every-step-now-is-a-frigging-math-problem-so-i-take-it-slow</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>interestica</author><text>&amp;gt; It is believed that a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as pesticides and pollution, may cause Parkinson’s; Fox later learned that at least four cast members of Leo &amp;amp; Me, a Canadian TV show he starred in as a teenager, also developed early-onset Parkinson’s. “But believe it or not, that’s not enough people to be defined as a cluster, so there hasn’t been much research into that. But it is interesting. I can think of a thousand possible scenarios: I used to go fishing in a river near paper mills and eat the salmon I caught; I’ve been to a lot of farms; I smoked a lot of pot in high school when the government was poisoning the crops. But you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out.”&lt;p&gt;Completely unfounded speculation, but I always wondered what the effect of the absolutely grueling schedule of simultaneously filming Family Ties and Back to the Future was. (Sleeping in cars, working til 7am, just a couple hours of sleep a night).&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Gale said that Fox&amp;#x27;s youth meant he could cope with less sleep than usual.
(&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Back_to_the_Future#Filming_with_Fox&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Back_to_the_Future#Filming_wit...&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;p&gt;They&amp;#x27;d already filmed half the movie and brought Fox in as the replacement. With so much on the line, did he take more than just coffee to keep going? Drug-induced &amp;#x27;Parkinsonism&amp;#x27; is a thing. Having it progress like typical Parkinson&amp;#x27;s is rare, but it happens. (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.parkinsons.org.uk&amp;#x2F;information-and-support&amp;#x2F;types-parkinsonism&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.parkinsons.org.uk&amp;#x2F;information-and-support&amp;#x2F;types-...&lt;/a&gt;).</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>influx</author><text>Hrrm, interesting theory:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencedaily.com&amp;#x2F;releases&amp;#x2F;2005&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;051214084800.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencedaily.com&amp;#x2F;releases&amp;#x2F;2005&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;051214084800.h...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Adults who abuse cocaine might increase their risk of developing Parkinson&amp;#x27;s disease&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;It wouldn&amp;#x27;t be too far out to imagine a young Hollywood star in the 80s might abuse illegal drugs to stay awake.</text></comment>