Diabetes For Dummies [Paperback]

 

 

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When I heard that my wife was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and I wanted to know all about it, my first thought was if there was a "for Dummies" book on it. Sure enought, there is. My second thought was if it would be up to the excellent standards of most of the other "for Dummies" books. It was. This book has a lot. My wife had to go to a four-day program to be informed about diabetes and how to live with it. This book contains a surprising amount of the same material. It got me up to speed at almost the rate she was. Impressive. If you want to know about diabetes, get this book.

As a newly dialognosed Type 2 Diabetic, I had a lot of questions. Being familiar with the "Dummie" series, I thought this book would answer most, if not all of my questions...but, I have to say that it left me a litte short. The major issue I have with it is that it's kind of all over the place. Most of the information is about Type 1 Diabetes, with information on Type 2 interspersed into the particular topic. It has very little useful info on self-care & alternative options, other than to say that most don't work. I could of did without the recipe section, since there are only a few listed. Aside from all of that, I do know more than I did before I had it. It didn't totally quench my thirst, but it is a first step in what will be a lifetime journey in dealing with this condition.

An epidemic of Diabetes is sweeping across the world and South Asians who adopt a modern diet are developing the disease at especially high rates. While no one has yet found a cure for diabetes, there have been great advances in the management of the disease. A diabetic who truly understands his disease and correctly uses all the tools available to manage it can expect decades of good health. On the other hand, poorly managed diabetes will soon lead to complications that range from amputations and infections to blindness, kidney failure and heart disease. As millions of people develop diabetes, there is no way any society can provide enough doctors to manage their disease on a day to day basis. It thus becomes essential that the patients and their caretakers learn enough about the disease to be able to take most of the responsibility for their own care. This has led to an explosion of self help books for diabetics and Dr. Rubin's "Diabetes for dummies" is one of the best in the field.
The editors of the "Dummies" series made an inspired choice when they asked Dr. Rubin to write this book. While Dr. Rubin is a very well known diabetologist with solid scientific credentials, he is not an academic who spends more time on research than he does seeing real patients. Rather, he is primarily a clinician, with decades of practical experience managing thousands of diabetics. This perspective helped him write a book that is focused first and foremost on being practically useful. The book is easy to read and understand and the reader needs no prior scientific knowledge to follow it. The book begins with an account of how a typical person reacts to the diagnosis of diabetes. After some practical advice on dealing with the initial shock and dismay, Dr. Rubin explains what diabetes is and what we know about its causes. The only weakness in the book may be the fact that he tries to explain all the different types of diabetes (type 1 is what children usually get, type 2 is the more common adult type and gestational diabetes is seen in pregnant women) and this may unnecessarily confuse some of his readers. Since most of the target audience will have type 2 diabetes (it is at least 10 times more common than type 1, its increasing even faster, and it's the kind overweight adults usually get) he might have done better to focus purely on type 2 and write a separate book for the type 1 diabetics. Still, this is not a serious problem and with a little bit of effort any reader should be able to focus on the parts of the book which are most relevant to his or her problem.
After explaining what diabetes is and what it can do to you, he comes to the most useful part of the book: how to manage your diabetes. The advice is up to date, practical and served up with wit and humor. The reader will learn all about the importance of testing your own blood sugar every single day (an occasional test at your doctors office is practically useless) and how to keep it in the acceptable range. All the complications of diabetes can be slowed or even prevented altogether if glucose is tightly controlled. Starting with diet and exercise and moving on to pills and insulin shots, the tools to control your sugar are out there and Dr. Rubin explains each of them in detail. Once you read the book, you will easily know more than most doctors know about this stuff. And you should! It's your health; the era when doctors behaved like God and the patient was little more than the passive recipient of care he could never hope to comprehend is well and truly past. Patients need to take more and more responsibility for their own care and books like this are exactly what they need to make informed decisions about their health.
The book includes a section on what doesn't work (unfortunately, the quack remedies mentioned are mostly the ones being advertised in the US, the Pakistani reader will have to evaluate his local quacks on his own) and what may be available in the future. There is a cookbook at the end, but the recipes are mostly American and may be less useful in [Asia]. There is also a very nice list of websites where even more information is available. In short, a very useful book and a must for every person who has diabetes or cares for a diabetic. While it is obviously intended for an American audience, the information is universally useful and is needed even more in a country where access to quality healthcare is so problematic.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Help!
This book was used by me to write a report for a class I am taking. My boyfriend was recently diagnosed with deiabetes and this book not only helped with my school work it has... Read more

Published on Mar 7 2003 by Rebecca Mays

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Love Someone Who Has Diabetes Buy Them The Book!
This is by far one of the better books I ever read on Diabetes and related symptoms and conditions. It is organize in an easy to read manner, provides checklists, promotes good... Read more

Published on May 6 2002 by Joseph J. Janos III

5.0 out of 5 stars BOOK REVIEWS
Current books on diabetes reviewed by Rick Mendosa

The "praise" page of Diabetes for Dummies reads, "As one of the country's leading endocrinologists, Alan Rubin... Read more

Published on Sep 10 2001 by d. gibbons

5.0 out of 5 stars BOOK REVIEWS
I can't tell you how many times I've recently accessed the new Diabetes For Dummies, by Alan L. Rubin, MD. Read more

Published on Sep 7 2001 by d. gibbons

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of good information - badly organized
Let the title of this book guide you. I found the book to be frustrating. It is a collection of fragments of helpful hints. There are better organized books available. Read more

Published on July 31 2001 by D. L. Paulson

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
OK. Hubby's just been diagosed with type II diabetes. Go the to library and get a million confusing books. I don't have time for this. Read more

Published on Jun 22 2001 by K. S. Roman

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Resource for Diabetics AND Non-Diabetics
This was the first book on diabetes I bought after being diagnosed. I've bought LOTS more. But this is the one I continually go back to for information, reminders, and research... Read more

Published on May 27 2001 by Jennifer F. Johnston

5.0 out of 5 stars My Main Text
My mother is 79 and has had type 1 diabetes for 62 years. She reached some low numbers on her glucose recently (35,45, 51) so I decided to take charge. I picked this book. Read more

Published on April 1 2001 by Bill Butler

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book if you have or know someone who has diabetes
I was looking for a book that gives a good overview of all aspects of diabetes, and this book satisfied that goal. The book covers both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Read more

Published on Mar 15 2001 by David M. Ng

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Every Diabetic
I took a chance on this book, having been diagnosed with diabetes in 1999. Wow! It answered most of my questions and more. Read more

Published on Dec 27 2000

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