The Serious Medical Condition Halle Berry Lives With

Over the years, actor Halle Barry has dealt with a slew of medical mishaps. In 2012, the "Monster's Ball" star was rushed to the hospital after suffering a head injury. According to TMZ, Berry was on set when she hit her head on concrete, resulting in a concussion. "Halle Berry suffered a minor head injury while shooting a fight sequence on the set of her film, 'The Hive,' "shared her team with Today. "She was taken to the hospital as a precaution, but she checked out healthy and was released. She'll continue production as planned." 

One year earlier, Berry broke her foot on set filming "Cloud Atlas," opposite Tom Hanks, in Mallorca, Spain, according to USA Today. In addition to Berry's on-set injuries, she suffered from hearing loss early in her career after her ex-boyfriend punctured her ear drum. In 2021, Berry broke her ribs while shooting a film — aptly titled, "Bruise" — as noted by Entertainment Weekly. In light of these various struggles, Berry lives with a serious medical condition, which has plagued the Academy Award-winning actor with many challenges.

When she was 22 years old, Halle Berry was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. As reported by The Independent, the actor has strictly adhered to a ketogenic diet for over three decades to help manage her symptoms. Per Diabetes UK, Type 1 accounts for 8% of the total cases of diabetes and affects the body's ability to produce insulin. Berry received her diagnosis after falling into a diabetic coma while filming the show, "Tragic Dolls" (via Express UK). While Berry has successfully managed the disease for over three decades, the actor credits her lifestyle choices as the reason she's managed to stay healthy. "I got diagnosed with diabetes and I quickly learned that I could control my diabetes and live a longer, healthier life if I exercised regularly, changed my diet and did some things in my life that are called de-stressors," she told Essence. 

According to Variety, Berry opened up about how her diabetes diagnosis impacted her during the pandemic. "I do feel at risk," she said. "I'm very strict about quarantining and who is in my bubble. We have a whole section of the house: When you go out in the world and buy something, it has to sit in this purgatory." Fortunately, Berry managed to make it through the pandemic without contracting the virus or experiencing any setbacks.

According to Halle Berry, a commitment to leading a healthy lifestyle cured her of her Type I diabetes and shifted her into the Type II zone. As noted above, this disease affects people differently. Type I patients are usually on an insulin regimen in order to control their blood sugar. Meanwhile, Type II patients manage their illness with a variety of other therapies, including diet and exercise. Berry claims to have achieved that. "I've managed to ween myself off insulin, so now I like to put myself in the Type 2 category," Berry shared in 2007 (via Contact Music).

However, doctors aren't so sure about Berry's claims. "When someone really has Type 1, it means their immune system has destroyed the insulin-producing part of pancreas. In that case, there is no way to wean yourself off insulin [treatments]," shared Dr. Francine Kaufman to ABC News that same year. Ultimately, medical professionals decided that it was possible Berry always had Type II diabetes and possibly didn't want to interfere.