‘House of Cards’ actor urges Congress to fund diabetes research

Actor Paul Sparks testified before Congress on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to provide more funds for diabetes research.

Sparks, who stars on the Netflix hit “House of Cards,” shared his own personal history with Type 1 diabetes at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

He told lawmakers that he had begun to feel ill when living in New York at the age of 28.

“Over the course of about seven or eight months, I lost close to 40 pounds,” Sparks said, “I had to go to the bathroom all the time, I had cramps constantly. I was thirsty, hungry, starving. I couldn’t see very clearly. I mean my body was completely falling apart.”

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When he went home to see his family in Oklahoma, his family was shocked by the physical change.

“My mother and father almost had a heart attack when they saw me,” Sparks said in his emotional testimony.

When his brother, who was a medical resident at the University of Oklahoma at the time, heard of the symptoms, he told Sparks to visit a doctor, believing he had Type 1 diabetes. That turned out to be the correct diagnosis.

Today, Sparks relies on inhaled insulin and a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which allows him to know at all time whether his glucose is high or low. He described his CGM as “awesome.”

“These advances have transformed my life,” he said.

And he urged Congress to continue to provide funds for the Special Diabetes Program so that doctors and researchers can find new ways to help people with diabetes.

“We can’t let up on research. We need more advances,” Sparks said.

Sparks plays the author Thomas Yates on “House of Cards” and has been nominated for an Emmy for his performance.