The rate of diabetes in the Latino community is growing so fast that almost everyone could name someone who has the disease. It’s a scary thing how common this disease spreads and it’s not even contagious! The only thing contagious about this disease is the lifestyle that people share, which often leads to diabetes. In a recent interview, Tom Hanks calls himself an idiot for having a poor diet, which he says led to his development of type 2 diabetes.
“I’m part of the lazy American generation that has blindly kept dancing through the party and now finds ourselves with a malady,” said Hanks to Radio Times. “I was heavy. You’ve seen me in movies; you know what I looked like. I was a total idiot.”
According to Hank’s doctor, he might be able to cure himself if he loses weight. “My doctor says if I can hit a target weight, I will not have type 2 diabetes anymore,” he says.
Is this possible?
Absolutely. Most people with type 2 diabetes can reverse their diagnosis. This is because one of the largest risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes is weight gain and obesity. Weight loss can reduce the medication a person needs for type 2 diabetes and often can eliminate it all together, as long as the patient continues to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Unfortunately losing the weight and keeping it off is the biggest issue. The problem with type 2 diabetes is that it’s a chronic disease that doesn’t go away that easy. Once you have it, you will always have it, but it can be controlled and even in remission. If you lose 20 or 30 pounds, the disease can go away, but the minute you regain that weight, the disease will come back.