5 posts tagged “diabetes education”
My rather lengthy article based on our Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes Book finally appears in the Sept/Oct 2007 issue of Diabetes Self-Management magazine!
The article focus is, naturally, Avoiding Diabetic Complications. It's titled "Nurturing Your Health Bank," (that's the online link) and you'll find it in the print version of the magazine on page 29. Drawing from the book, the article explains how to "collect your numbers" -- A1c, blood pressure, lipid profile, microalbumin, and eye exam -- and then take appropriate action to become and stay as healthy as you possibly can be. Lots of emphasis is placed on setting priorities, rather than trying to tackle everything at once.
There's even a sample chart based on our "Diabetes Health Account" table. I'm not sayin' you won't need to buy the book after reading this piece, but hey... it's pretty informative, if I do say so myself :)
A few more endorsements for Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes to share with you today. Needless to say, we are delighted that so many prominent diabetes educators and fellow authors find our book useful and easy to read!
“The positive, person-focused approach presented by the authors was refreshing! Rather than starting with
‘What is diabetes?’ this book immediately guides the reader through concrete ways of identifying their very own practical
strategy for ‘taking on’ their diabetes. The authors use numerical test results as an objective approach for guiding the person with diabetes to identify what self-care behaviors to tackle first. Self-care success is measured by using these test results to define personal actions that produce outcomes of health and well-being. This book is a must read for people with diabetes, their families, and all health professionals who need to understand that diabetes is about self-care!”
— Malinda M. Peeples, Immediate Past President, AADE (American Association of Diabetes Educators)
“Worrying about diabetes complications is stressful. But keeping the results of 5 essential tests in healthy ranges
should vastly reduce your risks of developing any complications. This book will help you to understand these tests and what your goals for the results should be, as well as what you can do to get them into healthy ranges. This should reduce your stress, and that, in turn, should make your diabetes easier to control.”
— Gretchen Becker, author of The First Year® - Type 2 Diabetes and
Prediabetes
News flash! Two more exciting endorsements that came in just this week:
"Knowledge is power. This book provides important information that people with diabetes need for making decisions and taking charge of their health."
— Martha M. Funnell,
MS, RN, CDE,
University of Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center
“There is no need to hide in fear of diabetic complications. ‘Know Your Numbers’ takes some rather serious and complex issues and simplifies them so that everyone can benefit. The ‘Health Account’ concept alone makes the book a must-read!”
— Gary Scheiner
MS, CDE,
Owner/Director, Integrated Diabetes Services
Author, Think Like a Pancreas and The Ultimate Guide to Accurate Carb Counting
Dr. Jackson and I are delighted to announce two more very positive reviews of our "Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes" book by some of our favorite authors/bloggers:
First off, James Hirsch, who himself recently published the fantastic diabetes narrative "Cheating Destiny" has read our book and liked it (whew!)
His review appears in Diabetes Close Up, the industry newsletter produced by Kelly Close's razor-sharp consultancy, CloseConcerns, and also on Kelly's new Q&A page at Revolution Health. Lucky us! Here's are some excerpts from what Jim had to say:
"Breaking new ground in a diabetes book isn’t easy. As the epidemic has spiraled, dozens of 'how-to' books have been published in recent years – how to maintain normal blood sugars, how to eat properly, how to care for your eyes, your feet, and your heart; how to exercise or, for that matter, how not to exercise and still maintain good control. Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes is also a how-to book. In straight-forward prose, the last two-thirds cover the usual bases (exercise, food, medications, low-blood sugars, complications, travel tips, etc.) It’s a good primer for newcomers to diabetes and a solid, if overly long, refresher for diabetic veterans."
"Part of the book’s strength is the blending of authoritative medical information with the real-world experience of living with the disease."
"... the authors not only create a coherent framework for your health but also deliver a message of empowerment. The burden falls to the patient to act and act now. The book is actually written for patients with type 2 diabetes, though most of the material is relevant to all types of diabetes, and type 1 patients will appreciate the overview of insulins, pens, and pumps."
Jim felt we were somewhat wordy and repetitive in spots, but thinking it over, I wouldn't change a thing even if I could -- because the repetition was intentional: one of the core goals of this book was to drum the basics into patients' heads. Our "real-world" stories illustrate that the details of health/diabetes management often don't sink in the second, third, or even fourth time that patients hear them. So we'll just keep reminding you!!
* * * *
Over at ChronicBabe.com, a fave blog for women with chronic health issues, medical writer Michelle Haus was even more enthusiastic:
"In the almost nine months since I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, I've read numerous books, countless articles in magazines, tens of web sites and blogs... and gotten a great deal of information from doctors, dieticians, and various diabetes educators, but this is far and away the most positive, hopeful and -- most importantly -- best read of any of the books."
"The bottom line from this book is exercise," she concludes. "Get up and get moving, because that, my friends, is the most positive thing one can do to overcome the negative, long-term effects of diabetes. And the first thing I recommend you do is get up and get this book!"
Thank you, Michelle, looks like all that repetition did the trick for you on the exercise message ;)
Also have a look at our Author Interview at ChronicBabe, in which we get to extrapolate even more (wink!) on why we wrote this practical guidebook and how these 5 tests (A1C, blood pressure, microalbumin, lipids, and eye exam) are so critical to managing your long-term health.
Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes is available in all major bookstores, on Amazon.com, or with a special offer of 5 free ExtendBar snacks on DiabetesMine.com.
Our Virtual Book Tour for the Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes Book has begun!
Have a look at our first stop over at Healthy Concerns.com. Elisa Camahort reports on "health care from the patient's point of view." She features an interview with Dr. Jackson on a variety of topics, including:
* Don't patients know the symptoms of pre-diabetes?
* Do insurers cover the basic health risk tests?
and
* What about vegetarian and vegan diets and diabetes?
Check it out!
Next stop is at the interesting and highly influential Health Care Blog by Matthew Holt. This expert on the in's and out's of the health care system was kind enough to invite me to shed some light on diabetes care and why our book represents a turning point.
It's a do-it-yourself (DIY) disease, after all.
Commenters have some interesting things to say:
"Physician-centered chronic disease care works poorly." Yup.
"... the actual quality measures right now mean very little in regards to the actual day-to-day care of a chronic disease. Just a big disconnect." Agreed!
"One thing this book won't do is change the junk food crap and industrial food crap causing diabetes." Weeelll...
I responded to that last one by saying we actually do include a big, fat chapter on dealing with food (pun sort-of intended). It's harder, of course, when people have grown up with unhealthy eating habits and are used to overindulging. But we're working to chip away at this epidemic with some very practical advice.
Also see my latest column on dLife.com: "Good Health by the Numbers: A DIY Approach." This pretty well sums it up. Stay tuned for more Virtual Book Tour.
