By Nora Cain
“Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions. Roughly 18 million Americans already have this disease and many more will get it in the coming years as baby boomers age and if the rise in adult and child obesity continues.”
This ominous quotation from the book, “Tell Me What To Eat If I Have Diabetes” by Elaine Magee, repeats what we’ve heard on news programs and read in the daily newspapers - diabetes is an exploding health problem in the United States. Certainly among the readers of this column, there are those who are affected by diabetes, either directly themselves or indirectly though a family member.
A cornerstone of managing diabetes well is patient education, since diabetes is a disease that is managed on a day-to-day basis with variables that include glucose monitoring, meal planning and exercise. The Health Library has 11 books that deal with diabetes in its online eBook collection. For those who are looking for books that will help them understand the disease or inspire them to manage it better, this collection is worth a look. We encourage readers to go to the eBooks link and search on “diabetes.”
“The more the person with diabetes knows about himself, about diabetes, and about the interrelationships of diet, food, exercise, moods and blood sugar, the more he will be able to direct the course of his condition to live many years without complications,” writes the doctor-author of one of the books.
The first book, “Let’s Talk About Diabetes,” is written for young children. It is very short but nonetheless clear. It has a glossary to help kids understand the technical language - but keeps the explanations short and easy to remember.
“Coping With Diabetes,” written for the young adult, also keeps the information clear but is written in a noncondescending manner and uses case examples of teens with the disease to illustrate each chapter’s subject. The chapter that discusses the effect of hormones on diabetes is especially important for the growing teenage diabetic, and may impress upon them the importance of frequent glucose monitoring.
Two compelling books in this collection are written by an endocrinologist, Peter Loedwick, who is also a diabetic - “A Diabetic Doctor Looks at Diabetes” and “The Diabetic Man.” In the first book, Dr. Loedwick relates his own experiences dealing with the disease. For anyone who has ever felt that the author didn’t really understand the difficulty in being the patient, this is the book.
Loedwick is candid about his own response to being diagnosed with diabetes and the struggles he has had coping. His empathy comes from firsthand knowledge as a diabetic and a doctor who deals with diabetics in his practice.
“The Diabetic Man” states from the outset that men have a different response to disease and illness and, in general, this response does not help them. In question and answer format, the book progresses through the primary problems that diabetic men experience and often are reluctant to talk about. Again, Loedwick draws upon his experience as a diabetic and physician to illustrate the unique problems male diabetics have in managing their illness and the important reasons to overcome these problems and take control of the disease.
From the same publisher comes “The Type 2 Diabetic Woman,” which addresses the different problems experienced by women with Type 2 diabetes. Since women comprise the greatest numbers of those with this kind of diabetes, the book is a welcome resource. Of particular interest is the chapter on diabetes and pregnancy which covers another type of diabetes unique to pregnant women - gestational diabetes.
The collection includes general books on the subject of diabetes and several on diet. All can be browsed online and checked out for free on The Health Library’s Web site, healthlibrary.stanford.edu.
The Health Library resources are not intended as a substitute for medical care and should be used to formulate questions for discussion with your physician.
The Health Library is a community service of Stanford Hospital and Clinics located at 2-B Standard Shopping Center. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and until 9 p.m. on Thursdays.
For more information, call 725-8400.
