Two-time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks is describing himself as “a total idiot” for one huge mistake.
Tom Hanks revealed that he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2013, but now he’s looking back on his life and habits and realizing what led him to receive that medical news.
In a new interview with the Radio Times, the Oscar-winning actor, 59, says he should have taken better care of himself when he was younger.
“I’m part of the lazy American generation that has blindly kept dancing through the party and now finds ourselves with a malady,” he shares. “I was heavy. You’ve seen me in movies. You know what I looked like. I was a total idiot.”
There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2, with the latter being the more common, especially among older people.
Although other factors can affect your chance of getting this strand of diabetes, type 2 is often associated with obesity.
“I’m part of the lazy American generation that has blindly kept dancing through the party and now finds ourselves with a malady,” he told the Radio Times. “I thought I could avoid it by removing the buns from my cheeseburgers. Well, it takes a little bit more than that.”
However, he says he’s optimistic he can beat the disease, telling Radio Times that his doctor said if he hits his target weight it can potentially control it from developing any further.
“My doctor says if I can hit a target weight, I will not have type 2 diabetes anymore,” he says.
Is that possible? It is for most people with type 2 diabetes, David M. Nathan, M.D., director of the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells SELF. “You can ‘cure’ your type 2 diabetes, that’s true,” he says.
Here’s why: One of the largest risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes is weight gain and obesity. “It doesn’t mean that everyone with type 2 diabetes is overweight or obese, but 90 percent of them are,” Nathan says. “It’s an extremely important risk factor.” If you can remove that factor, people can actually get rid of their type 2 diabetes.
Research has shown that weight loss can reduce the medication a person needs for type 2 diabetes or even eliminate the need for it altogether, Nathan says. And, he adds, if they lose enough weight, they can make their diabetes “disappear.”
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes include urinating more often than usual, feeling very thirsty or tired, frequent episodes of thrush, and even blurred vision.
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: OpposingViews, The Independent, Today, Radio Times
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