Tom Hanks announces he has Type 2 on David Letterman

or maybe he could come so we could educate him!

Is good, ok not good for him, but think you know what I am on about having a high profile diabetic to help dismiss perceptions of it. Although an actor like Tom might give a bit more profile, still find it odd how someone like Sir Steve Redgrave still get's pretty much ignored by the press while being T2 also. But I guess that's the nature of the press and how they pick and choose at what snippits they like to bring up to get a bang out of a story.

Any of y'all watch "The Biggest Loser?"
They are ALWAYS saying they are "curing" the contestants diabetes.
Why do they say that?
It's not gone - it's just under pretty strict control - like the rest of us who are trying so hard to get fit, eat right, and watch our bg.
Why DO Dr's say it can be cured?

Y'all know Halle Berry is also a diabetic.
She and Hanks just did that movie "Cloud Atlas" together.
No one really talks about her being diabetic.

Wow! Way cool, Dave. We can hope!

Tom Hanks.... In the old days move-stars and Hollywood types where a good choice because main street had no real access to the media....now we all have access...anyone can be a good advocate. Look how far "Tu" has gone, don't count yourself out.

The DOC has surpassed all other forms of advocacy to date....

Because Dr. H on that show is worse than Dr. Oz. And he NEVER distinguishes that they have Type 2. Love the show, hate him and his tactics.

Unfortunately, Ali, Halle Berry talks way too much. She has told everyone that she is cured of her Type 1 Diabetes. She is an example of a celebrity that does more harm than good.

Here's a quick quote from Tom Hanks from this article

"Pizza is the most delightful thing ever invented and it's - for me - diabolically dangerous."
Me too Tom!

So perhaps Tom will be a conduit for better understanding of T2 among the general population than say Paula Deen was. I would also note that it also has a little sidebar explaining the difference between T1 and T2, a nice touch usually omitted from this type of article.

Paula Deen was always cooking everything in sugar and a pound of butter. " 'cause butter makes it better y'all.."

Jumping in slightly off topic to say that I liked the discussion of Dave Davis' piece about bad advice that I wrote something similar on my Diabetes Self-Management blog. It's here if you want to add your cents...http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/Blog/David-Spero/unwanted-advice/

Could you perhaps share the gist of your ideas here, David, for those of us who don't read blogs?

Good blog post David! Thanks for referencing the old one here! :)

There is also conflicting information about whether or not she has Type 1 or Type 2. I found an article that talked about her having Type 2 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-371528/Halle-Berry-My-battle-diabetes.html), but where she also talks about eating a lot of pasta and mashed potatoes.

It's very interesting to me that one of the things identified as a contributing factor in the news articles is the mention of his weight gain and weight loss for different roles. However, as I looked at his filmography, it seems that his first role (that I can tell) with a dramatic weight change was "Philadelphia" in 1993, which would have been after his blood sugars were showing as "a little high."

It seems to me that people first associate Type 2 with weight gain, and don't consider that the weight gain could actually be not necessarily the cause, but correlated. To me, this seems to reflect that many people (including some doctors) believe that Type 2 is entirely the fault of the person who is diagnosed.

Thoughts?

Yep, my old doctor thought that very thing. A good friend of mine slapped me on the stomach recently and shouted, "it's because your fat!" I told him, "well, I didn't remark on your stupidity being caused by all the air leaking out your head from being bald, did I?" he said, "that has nothing to do with it!" and I replied, "exactly my point...and neither are you stupid"

Oh my...that's is scary that she thinks that way.

LOL! That's a good one. :)

Nice

Sue Rafati at LADA Life went 26 years being treated as Type 2 (not on insulin) before she was correctly diagnosed LADA/Type 1 by a high GAD test. She does say that she wishes she went on insulin much sooner. I have not heard of many cases like hers, but obviously it is possible.