Tom Hanks Reveals Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis

Josh Duboff



Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks

Some downbeat celebrity news this Tuesday morning: America's surrogate father, Tom Hanks, revealed to David Letterman last night that he recently learned he has Type 2 diabetes. Hanks, 57, said he has dealt with high blood sugar for more than 20 years. His doctor told him that if he can get back down to his high school weight (which Hanks laughed was 96 pounds) he would be able to essentially rid himself of the disease, a feat the actor said is not possible.

See more: Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey, Jr., Half-Dressed and In Love

"My doctor said, 'Look, if you can weigh as much as you weighed in high school, you will essentially be completely healthy. You will not have Type 2 diabetes.' And then I said to her, 'Well, then, I'm gonna have Type 2 diabetes, because there is no way I can weigh as much as I did in high school.'"

See more: Marilyn Monroe, The Lost Nudes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease (over 20 million American adults have it), and is manageable with the proper diet and regular exercise. A medical contributor on CBS This Morning said it's possible Hanks's having to gain or lose weight for various movie roles could have helped bring about the disease: "In dramatic weight gain or dramatic weight loss, the equilibrium of the body is just completely off, so that might predispose him to developing Type 2 diabetes later."

Hanks-who stars in the upcoming Captain Phillips-delivered the news on the late show with his patented affable charm, though that is unlikely to provide much solace to those of us sulking at our desks this afternoon upon learning the news.

See more from Vanity Fair:
The Best Vanity Fair Covers of All Time
Celebs Bare All: Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston Go Nude
The All-Time Greatest Movies About Love
Kate Middleton, Best-Dressed Pregnancy Ever?