Michael J. Fox: I’ve accepted Parkinson’s diagnosis

Michael J. Fox realised he needed to "quit his b***hin' and get on with it" when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

The 53-year-old actor was told he had the illness, which causes tremors, inflexible muscles and slow movement, when he was 29. Although he is now happy to talk about it, there was a period when he couldn't handle what had happened to him.

"Certainly there are things on the face [of it] that are much worse, that are terminal and really hopeless situations and it wasn't that. I just knew I was going to have to make adjustments and I didn't know what I was gonna have to adjust to," he told US talk show host David Letterman. "But, to be corny about it, once you accept it and you learn about it and you realise you're part of a community and you realise you're in a position to do something and to make a difference and to help, well then it's just like, quit your b***hin’ and get on with it."

Michael was quick to point out that everyone is different, and he doesn't expect anyone else facing such a diagnosis to act as he did. It's more that as time wore on, he realised he needed to make some changes if he was going to enjoy life again.

"That's me personally, other people have their own experiences and I'm not saying other people are b***hing. I'm just saying I was whining and whinging and I needed to get myself [together]," he said.

As he was diagnosed at such a young age, Michael wasn't expecting to hear the news at all. He went to the doctor because he had problems with his little finger, and he suspected it meant he'd hurt his shoulder while working.

"The doctor said, 'You have Parkinson's disease. The good news is you have ten years of work left.' And that was 22 years ago and I'm still working - actually 24 years," the Back to the Future star said.