Promoting his new film Captain Phillips, Tom Hanks announced in an interview on Monday night’s Late Show with David Letterman that he has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The 57-year old actor mentioned that he has actually been fighting high blood sugar numbers since he was 36 years old. Hanks told Letterman that his condition is controllable and manageable through proper diet and exercise.
“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.’ ”
Hanks said that the doctor advised him that it would be best for him to drop down to his high school weight to be completely healthy. Hanks jokingly added that he will just then stick with having type 2 diabetes instead of dropping down to his high school weight, which was apparently ’96’ pounds back then. “I was a very skinny boy,” Hanks mentioned.
Besides the jokes on his condition, Hanks is serious about getting healthy and tweeted “Yep, I have #2 diabetes. Type 1 is VERY SERIOUS! Type 2 I can manage with good habits. I shall! Hanx.”
Hanks is not the only person in Hollywood diagnosed with type 2 diabetes: Patti LaBelle, Drew Carey, Sherri Shepherd and Paula Deen have also been diagnosed with the disease over the years.
