Just for fun, I recently requested a review copy of Sue Marshall’s new book, “Diabetes: The Essential Guide” out of the UK. I read it on the plane to Boston on my birthday late last month. (Really, is this what I do for fun? Time to get a life?)
I’ve long been an admirer of Sue, who’s had type 1 diabetes for 35 years and had a 20-year career in journalism before she launched Desang, a healthcare information and diabetes “kit bag” company.
Her new soft-cover quick guide to diabetes explains all the basics you “Need-2-Know” (name of the book series) with admirable clarity. And brevity. In ten very straightforward chapters of just about 10 pages each, she covers the disease basics (type 1 and 2), blood testing, diet, equipment, pregnancy, complications, and pretty much every type of drug currently on the market for treating D. Each chapter ends with a “Summing Up” list — the essential facts reiterated in bullet list form. Nice.
Based on this clear and useful content, I would definitely recommend this book to loads of folks I know. But do beware the British-isms: blood sugar numbers are listed in the European standard of millimoles per liter (mmols/L). Glucose meters are referred to as “blood test machines,” and the author advises you to “look after your insulin” (keep it cool and dry, rather than babysitting it). Apparently having a hypo “is often described as ‘being a bit wobbly.’” And there are many puzzling references to the British healthcare system, such as:
“Blood test sensors (also called blood test strips or electrodes) are available on prescription from your GP and are free. You may need to get a Medical Exemption Certificate in order to get your prescriptions for free…”
OMG. Who says we can’t still learn a thing or two from the British system?
Some things I learned from this book:
* The monthly magazine of the national advocacy organization Diabetes UK is called “Balance” (somehow a more fitting title than the ADA’s “Forecast,” don’t you think?)
* British PWDs are lucky to have access to an educational program called DAFNE (Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating) — a 5-day seminar that features in-depth carb counting training, among other things.
* The basic unit of exchange over there is 10g carb — versus the 15g-based method I learned here in the US. Personally, I think 10g is a superior starting point for both carb-counting and insulin dosing; it seems more realistic and probably produces better results.
Quotables:
“Your doctor is your partner in your diabetes care. So work on that relationship.” Right.
“Remember to replace the sugar sources that you use up. Preparation is all! It’s bad enough having a hypo without having a panic attack, too.” Amen to that. I’m constantly forgetting to refill my empty glucose tab tubes. My bad!
“The key point to remember is that diabetes management is a marathon not a sprint.” Amen to that as well, for obvious reasons.
All in all, a quite useful book from Sue, who’s also developed some quite useful supply bag designs. If you’re willing to venture virtually “over the pond” to order your diabetes literature, click here for info on how to order this book. A good deal (current exchange rate not withstanding).
Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.
We can most certainly learn from the British system.
Diabetes may be the same wherever you live but the language is very different. As a Brit surfing the web it took me ages to work out what the “juice boxes” were that everyone seems to use to treat lows and the complexities of your co-pays and deductables are beyond belief! And I’ve got really good at dividing by 18 so I can understand whether your blood sugar reading of 107 is a good or a bad thing!
sounds very great and useful book…..I’ll check, than you for information
Interesting stuff. Since my family is all in England and my mum works in healthcare so is always talking to doctors about me and passing on the info I can certainly understand how people could get confused. A couple of months ago I was talking to her and she was saying how she had a physical and her cholesterol was high. I asked what it was and she said 6.9. Uhhhh??? It’s also quite interesting to hear about the differences between here and there but also the similarities. My future brother-in-law’s cousin is on a pump and it’s interesting to hear about the struggles he had to get it covered by the insurance.
On the 10g carb per unit starting point, it does have it’s downside. A friend of my mum’s got diagnosed with type 1 a few years ago, I think she was mid to late 30′s at the time, and was put on that ratio. Technically it worked fantastically well because almost overnight she had great numbers but in reality it was awful because she was going from a constant high to near normal numbers and was in a terrible state. Feeling hypo all the time, massive depression and generally in a poor way. They ended up backing off, letting her numbers go back up a little and started bringing them down over a month or so. She ended up (I think) taking more insulin than she did initially but had none of the issues. My mum said it was horrible to see. She went from a happy and outgoing person to basically a wreck overnight and then after they backed off she changed back overnight.
Oh, one other thing. The book is available on Amazon.com for pretty much the same price as buying it from the UK but it falls under Amazon’s free shipping so will work out cheaper. Just search for the ISBN Number 9781861440594.