The “Hidden Figures” actress learned of her diagnosis on the job.
Octavia Spencer has revealed new details about the health diagnosis that forced her to overhaul her life decades ago.
The 56-year-old Hidden Figures star told Prevention that she learned she had type 2 diabetes during a routine physical required for an acting job when she was in her 30s.
Spencer could not remember which project she was preparing to film, but she remembered being stunned when fasting bloodwork showed her blood sugar was not just elevated—it had already progressed to diabetes.
Octavia Spencer said she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in her 30s.
“Yeah, it was a shock,” the Oscar winner said. “But I was also close to three hundred pounds.”
The actress said she had not been visiting doctors regularly because she felt healthy, despite carrying a higher body weight.
“I’m a Southern girl—I grew up in Alabama,” she said. “I didn’t have any health issues at that point that I could feel. I was very overweight, but I felt good—and that can be a dangerous combination.”
The Help star also learned at the same time that she had high blood pressure.
Spencer said she was almost 300 lbs. at the time of her diagnosis.
“I felt OK. Maybe little headaches from time to time, but I thought, you know, you get headaches,” she recalled. “Probably I’m just stressed and I’m tired, and I’m traveling all the time.”
Spencer was prescribed medication for her blood pressure and began working with her doctor to lower her A1C, which measures average blood sugar levels over time.
Spencer first publicly disclosed in January that she had been living with type 2 diabetes for about two decades and also had high blood pressure.
She told People at the time that keeping both conditions controlled had become more complicated as she got older.
After managing her condition for decades, Spencer first disclosed her diagnosis in January.
“I’ve been managing it but as I’m aging, it’s getting to feel like whack-a-mole keeping things in order,” she said.
It wasn’t until Spencer faced another frightening health moment that she decided to partner with the Detect the SOS campaign, which encourages people living with diabetes and high blood pressure to ask their doctors about kidney screening.
After learning that her diabetes and high blood pressure also put her at greater risk for kidney disease, Spencer asked her doctor last year for a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio, or uACR, test. The simple urine test can detect signs that the kidneys are not properly filtering blood.
“Me, I was terrified,” Spencer said of waiting for the result, which ultimately came back normal. “And then I was completely relieved.”
The experience only strengthened Spencer’s new approach to preventive care.
“You want to know [these things],” she said. “And then you want to know how to change your behavior, what can help turn those circumstances around.”
Spencer now monitors both her blood pressure and blood sugar daily, though she admitted she is not perfect about every healthy habit.
Spencer keeps a close eye on her health levels after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
PATRICK T. FALLON/REUTERS
“Am I 100 percent on top of all that? No. Could I be better? I could be a lot better,” she said. “I do know my numbers! And I do know that they’re controlled.”
The actress has also made practical changes to her routine. While filming her Prime Video series Ride or Die in Prague, she often ate chicken kebabs and salad, drank bone broth, and occasionally enjoyed pasta and prosciutto.
She also tries to walk for at least 10 minutes after meals, stretches every morning, gardens, and starts her day with a few quiet minutes of prayer and gratitude.
Spencer strives for consistency rather than perfection when it comes to treatment.
ALESSANDRO BIANCHI/REUTERS
Spencer said her goal is consistency rather than perfection.
“It’s about being consistent. It’s about being informed,” she said.
After quietly managing diabetes for years, Spencer said she now believes her own experience can help other people recognize risks they might otherwise ignore.
“This is my story,” she said. “And I want to get as many people to hear this story as possible.”
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