We're pleased to announce another excellent book review in a new monthly glossy magazine called Diabetes Explorer. 

This book can help

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 :)

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Book News Flash from the blogosphere:

Christine Miserandino, who blogs about living with "invisible" chronic illness at ButYouDontLookSick.com has posted a

Chronic Illness blogger loves KYN

She recently discovered my blog, DiabetesMine.com, and has this to say:

"I found her writing to be easy to read and interesting (an unusual combination when reading health related writing) ... I was intrigued to see how her writing would read in book form.

"I was happy to read her book and have it contain the same style and 'voice' as her blog. This book has straight to the point facts that everyone dealing with diabetes and blood sugar issues should know.

"Dr. Richard Jackson and Amy Tenderich walk you through how to understand each of the five factors/ tests and then help you create a personalized treatment plan for optimum blood-glucose control, heart health, and general diabetes management and well being.

"I know that many of these medical tests, and numbers can be overwhelming, complicated and scary to many, especially to new patients dealing with this disease.

"This book helps you not only be more knowledgeable, but lets you know small things that you can do to improve your life, i.e.: exercise, food, and diet. It is great to have these two authors work together. You receive the medical expertise of a doctor, combined with the real life experience of a patient."

Best of all, she concludes her review this way:

"At 224 pages, this paperback book was a quick, but well worth the read. I would recommend this book for anyone you know who is living with diabetes or loving someone with diabetes."  (!)

Check out the book on Amazon, or order it with a free trial pack of ExtendBar slow-release glucose snacks HERE.

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MedGadget, the "internet journal of emerging medical technologies," has just posted a comprehensive review of Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes.

Likes It...

The piece is penned by the big man himself, executive director Dr. Michael Ostrovsky, a Daly City, CA, anesthesiologist. We are especially flattered since as far as we know, MedGadget doesn't post a lot of book reviews.  The site's self-proclaimed target audience is "tech-obsessed health care and bio medical professionals."

But Dr. O has been especially interested in our hands-on guide to good health with diabetes (now the country's fifth deadliest disease).  And God knows, there are lots of gadgets involved in good diabetes care these days.

"On the basics, the book is written in a clear, concise language, and is under 300 pages. Know Your Numbers contains a wealth of useful information for diabetics (both type I and type II) to manage their disease," Dr. O writes.  "The book is solid and is easy to read."

We'd like to thank the good doctor for his closing remarks as well: "We will not hold against Amy the fact that Medgadget was not included in its resources section."  Well, Dr. O, our target audience is just a little less geeky uh, techy.

For us, it's more about this: Got diabetes?  Need a little help understanding what to do about it? 
Check out the MedGadget book review HERE.

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Patricia Salber is a physician-blogger at The Doctor Weighs In. She's an MD, MBA, and board certified internist with

Pat Salber, MD

"Yeah, I know, some of you hate the 'empowerment' word. But that is what this book sets out to do. It arms you with information. It helps you understand your particular needs and challenges. And it provides guidance on how to go, one step at a time, from where you are now to where you want to be in terms of diabetes health."

"So, there you go. If you have diabetes, if someone you care about has diabetes, or if you are a health professional working with people with diabetes, then buy (and read) this book. You will be glad you did."

In short: "Got Diabetes? Then Buy This Book." (Read the full review here)

Needless, to say, Dr. Jackson and I are delighted to receive such a hearty endorsement from such a well-respected source.  Now follow those doctor's orders, will ya? ;)

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No, we're not talking about DiabetesMine.com, although that IS what makes my blog tick, I hope.  This week, a few more

Sheri Colberg, PhD, author and professor

"Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes" is an absolute gold mine of
need-to-know diabetes information and resources.  It contains the perfect
blend of basic knowledge, assessment tools, and action plans to enable
anyone with diabetes to live a long and healthy life.  Take the advice in
this book to heart!

– Sheri Colberg, PhD, Author of "The 7-Step Diabetes Fitness Plan" and "50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes."

                *   *   *

And from this month's Diabetes Health magazine "what to read" section:

a leading diabetes magazine

"(Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes) cuts away the extraneous stuff and lays bare the essentials: There are five, and only five, critical numbers that you need to worry about. If you keep these five numbers where they should be, you’ll outlive your diabetes and prosper in good health. And the big five are: A1Cs; blood pressure; lipid levels (HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides); microalbumin levels; and eye exam scores...

"The authors wrote the book as a “comprehensive, hands-on guide to successfully managing your own health,” and that’s what it is. After it gets your priorities squared away, it covers just about everything you need to know, from A to Z."

Still skeptical?  Have a closer look here.

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MedScape.com

Do you follow MedScape -- the clinician and healthcare-professional-focused sister site of WebMD?  Well, check out the author interview with myself and Dr. Jackson in the "Diabetes & Endocrinology" section, published yesterday. (Registration required, but it's free)

It's presented as the "Expert Interview" on our new book, "Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes" -- which was a lot of fun, since we did the interview in tandem, with Dr. J as the medical expert and myself as the expert on all the crap we go through living with this volatile disease.

A favorite snippet from Dr. Jackson:
"If you were running an insurance company and wanted to insure people with diabetes, and were trying to figure out their risk, these are the 5 numbers you'd want to know. And the numbers aren't so complicated that people can't understand them."

See why these numbers are so important? 

He also says:
"I'm involved in outreach programs at the Joslin Center, and we go into communities and do diabetes programs with free testing, so we get people who are interested in their diabetes. We ask, 'Have you heard of an A1C? Have you had an A1C test?' And only about 10% of people are what we call 'A1C aware.' "

"Blood pressure is a little better. Microalbumin -- hardly anyone has heard of it. People have had eye examinations, but they're not sure about the results... One of the fundamental points in our book is that first you have to find out where you are before you can get to where you're going."

Right. So get the book. Get the tests. Figure out where you're going. I hope the message that came across at MedScape was the urgency of educating patients about these tests, and motivating them to take control. 

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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!

Malinda Peeples, leading diabetes educator

“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

Gretchen Becker, diabetes author

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

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News flash!  Two more exciting endorsements that came in just this week:

Martha Funnell, diabetes educator

"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

Gary Scheiner, diabetes educator

“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   

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Well now, I suppose you know your book about diabetes is ON THE MAP when it's available via the Joslin Diabetes Center online store.  Of course, it helps that Dr. Jackson has been a fixture at that world-leading diabetes treatment

Joslin Center in Boston

He is Medical Director Joslin's highly successful DO IT (Diabetes Outpatient Intensive Treatment) program -- an intensive outpatient seminar that combines teaching and training with actual on-site exercise and meal sessions. In other words, patients spend 3-1/2 days of intensive time with Joslin doctors, nutritionists and exercise physiologists getting to the bottom of their own most pressing health issues with diabetes.  There's nothing quite like it.

And Dr. Jackson always felt that the majority of patients attending the DO IT program would have been in much better shape upon arrival if they'd had early access to the info in our book, i.e. the details of the 5 key tests to monitor your health with diabetes.  This was his major incentive to write the book, he tells me.

The reason that we both care is that we both know lots of people who have feelings, ideas, and opinions about their diabetes, but don’t really know the actual status of their own health. Too often they focus one factor, like glucose readings, or food… with constant frustration... because their idea of "doing good" is very vague indeed.  But we felt there must be a better way  Because now, for the first time in history, the specific tools and knowledge you need to live long and well with diabetes are readily available.

Consider this (from our Preface):

In the past, people were essentially groping in the dark with their diabetes. The tests and methods available were so primitive that it really was like fumbling in a dark room towards the door marked "Exit Here for a Long and Health Life" that you knew was there, but couldn’t see.

Since doctors could only guess at their daily glucose levels, for example, patients were subjected to all sorts of drills—like eating the same bland food for dinner every night for years on end—in the hopes that this would keep their diabetes in control.

But now the light in that dark room has been switched on!  Improved laboratory tests and advanced tools like home glucose meters let you see where you’re going—and sometimes you’ll find there are even different paths to reach the same door marked "Exit Here for a Long and Health Life" on the other side of room. So you even have some flexibility in your health improvement choices.

That's the approach, folks.  Publisher's Group UK calls it "a brilliant idea whose time has come."

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