When Tom Hanks sat down with David Letterman on Monday's "Late Show," he surprised everyone by making a startling health announcement. He's been diagnosed with type 2 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! You've got type 2 diabetes, young man,'" Hanks told Letterman.
"It's controllable," Hanks added quickly. "Something's going to kill us all, Dave."
Letterman said he too suffers from high blood sugar but controls it with diet.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, which occurs when the body does not properly metabolize insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association.
There was some good news, said Hanks, who was actually on the show to promote his new film "Captain Phillips." The doctor told him if he could maintain his high school weight he could get rid of the diabetes. Hanks said he told the doctor, "Well, I'm going to have type 2 diabetes. Because there is no way I can weigh as much as I did in high school.'"
What was his high school weight?
"I weighed 96 pounds," said Hanks. "Most of that was that big white Afro that I wore back in the '70s."