Tom Hanks Has Diabetes, Reveals disease on Letterman

Actor Tom Hanks, whom many consider the friendliest actor in Hollywood, chose an appearance on the “Late Show With David Letterman” to reveal that he has been given a recent diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes. Hanks was appearing on the late night talk show to promote his upcoming film appearance in “Captain Phillips”.

Hanks said that his blood sugar levels have been high since he was in his mid 30s, but after a recent physical exam, his doctor informed him that he now has full-blown diabetes.

“I went to the doctor and he said, ‘You know those high blood sugar numbers you’ve been dealing with since you were 36? Well, you’ve graduated,’ ” Hanks told Letterman. ” ‘You’ve got Type 2 diabetes, young man.’ ”

The personable actor, whose first role was on TV’s “Bosom Buddies” and won an Oscar for the film “Forest Gump”, mentioned that he can manage his diabetic condition by making the right dietary choices, although his physician challenged him to return to the same weight he was in high school but Hanks laughed and said that doing that was not a possibility. He reports that he tipped the scales while a teenager around 96 pounds.

“And I said to (the doctor), ‘Well I’m gonna have Type 2 diabetes,’ ” Hanks joked. “Because there is no way I was gonna weigh what I weighed in high school. … I weighed 96 pounds in high school.”

Hanks is not the first celebrity to inform their fans about their diabetic condition. Others include Sherri Shepherd and celebrity chef Paula Deen, who then went on to become a celebrity spokesperson for a specific brand of diabetic medication.

An estimated 285 million people worldwide are affected by diabetes. With a further 7 million people developing diabetes each year, this number is expected to hit 438 million by 2030.

Today, more than 9 million Canadians live with diabetes or prediabetes.

On The Web:
Tom Hanks has Type 2 diabetes
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/08/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/tom-hanks-diabetes/