Michael J. Fox‘s 1998 announcement that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease seven years prior sent shockwaves through the entertainment world. The seemingly healthy Back to the Future star, known for his sprightly energy and youthful looks, was just 30 years old at the time of diagnosis, and the cultural impression of the condition was that PD was an elderly person’s disease.
A quarter of a century on, the acclaimed actor has been credited with helping change the conversation around Parkinson’s. Fox has enhanced our understanding of the condition via fundraising and uses his platform, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, to publicly discuss the disease, pushing toward better treatment and potentially a cure.
Image via CBC Television
One insight Fox has given both the public and the medical field was tied to one of his earliest roles on the Canadian sitcom Leo and Me, a short-lived series that the actor believes led him to develop Parkinson’s at an unusually young age.
Why does Michael J. Fox believe Leo and Me may have caused him to develop Parkinson’s Disease?
As noted in his 2002 memoir Lucky Man, Fox worked on Leo and Me between 1978 and 1981, beginning when he was just 17 years old. At the time of writing the autobiography, Fox, alongside series director Don Williams and an unnamed writer and director, all received a Parkinson’s diagnosis.
While Parkinson’s is a relatively common diagnosis these days, particularly in environments where life expectancy has increased over the years, the average in 2002 was estimated to be 1 in every 300 people. Research into the phenomenon on the set of Leo and Me trounces that ratio significantly, showing that 4 out of 125 people who worked on the sitcom had developed the disease.
Although researchers into Parkinson’s have stated this could be a coincidence, Dr. Donald Calne, director of the Neurodegenerative Disorders Centre at the University of B.C. Hospital, believed the crew on the Vancouver set of Leo and Me may have been subject to a cluster diagnosis phenomenon, a conclusion he came to after treating two of the four cast members who were diagnosed.
Cluster diagnosis refers to a group of people developing Parkinson’s Disease at the same time, from the same source. Research into cluster diagnosis could outline a potential finding of an outright cause of the disease, something the medical field has been chasing for decades.
Referring to the theory as “the Vancouver cluster”, Calne estimates the likelihood of four cases of Parkinson’s developing in this small group of people is roughly 1 in 1,000. Additionally, people under the age of 50 make up 5% of Parkinson’s diagnoses, and two of the four cases on Leo and Me contracted the condition at 38 years old or younger.
Even two decades after Fox offered his beliefs about the roots of his illness, the idea of cluster diagnosis is still subject to debate. Abe Lieberman, medical director for the National Parkinson Foundation in Miami, explained this to the Chicago-Sun Times after the publication of Fox’s book.
“You can find studies that people who spend time with each other are more susceptible to Parkinson’s disease and you can find the reverse.”
“If Michael J Fox’s wife developed Parkinson’s disease, I would pay more attention to the cluster theory,” he added, admitting that the theory is still not fully backed by research. “There is no smoking gun.” According to CBC, Japanese researchers into Parkinson’s Disease have considered outbreaks of influenza as a potential cause or catalyst for the condition developing in the brain.
This wouldn’t be the first time a set was exposed to dangerous toxins or outbreaks. The 1956 film The Conqueror, starring John Wayne, has reported a disproportionate number of cancer diagnoses and deaths among the cast, crew, and their families — thought to be due to exposure to a nearby nuclear testing site.
While relatively little is known about the conditions the cast and crew of Leo and Me faced during its short run, this is certainly a factor worth enquiring into.