The Cleveland Clinic Guide To Diabetes, by S. Sethu Reddy

It is not entirely clear whether the author is to be praised for his statements that admit the areas of diabetes that are not well known and the fact that this book is likely to be very obsolete when it comes to information about diabetes, or whether that is to be held against this book. In general, I have viewed it as an aspect in the author’s credit, but not all readers may agree. It cannot be denied, though, that as the author estimates that books like his are already fifteen to twenty years behind when it comes to scientific frontiers of various diseases and this book is fifteen years old (as of reading), the author is clearly working with some very obsolete facts. He does well within these limitations, it must be admitted, but it cannot be denied that they are limitations. As is the case with books in series often, I am not familiar enough with the series or with the Cleveland Clinic itself to judge whether or not its advice is generally good or whether the clinic should even be considered to have any particular expertise with regards to writing about health matters in general.

Despite the obsolescence of what the book has to say, there are some excellent aspects of this book that deserve positive credit. In particular, the book excels at providing the perspective of people who have to deal with diabetes and have for decades. Including is a former longtime pitcher whose name I recognized, as well as more ordinary people who often have comments about the dark days of diabetes treatment (namely the past few decades) regarding the changes that have been seen in how diabetes can be managed. One of the most poignant stories is that of a man who was near death because neuropathy in his intestines was left untreated and unknown which catastrophically prevented him from being able to anticipate and deal with spikes and valleys in blood sugar. The accounts of the various people who discuss their own management of diabetes and how they dealt with diagnosis as well as the risk effects of diabetes within families is itself worth the price of reading. The only worrisome aspect of this is the way that a couple of the women in the book make light of their husbands, with one woman making especial mention of a type 1 diabetes suffering husband as being her then-husband, which hints at marital discord, while the other one would trade her husband for an insulin pump, which seems a poor trade in many respects. Being a reader particularly sensitive to problems of misandry, these aspects of the book were less than enjoyable to read.

In terms of its contents, this book is a bit less than 200 pages long and includes ten chapters and four appendices. The book begins with a short introduction. This is followed by a discussion of the definition and scope of diabetes (1). This is followed by a discussion of the symptoms of diabetes, including the raging thirst that results from dehydration related to the presence of sugar in the bloodstream (2). The author spends a bit of time talking about risk factors, which is in part obesity but even more family history, suggesting some sort of genetic and/or epigenetic risk factor for diabetes that is particularly notable (3). The author then spends some time talking about short-term and long-term complications of diabetes, including loss of vision and the problem of neuropathy, especially in the feet (4, 5). Some time is spent by the author in talking about how one controls one’s diabetes, which in the author’s mindset is largely controlling one’s calories and one’s blood sugar (6). This is followed by a discussion of diabetes and nutrition where the author talks about different sorts of fat, protein, fiber, as well as carbohydrates, and how nutrition can be a tricky matter (7). The author then discusses exercise as a vital element, commenting on different sorts of exercises that work best depending on one’s condition (8). The author spends a fair bit of time discussing diseases that fight diabetes as well as their side effects and what situations they tend to be used in, none of them really dealing with the essential nature of the disease, as is common among medicines, it must be admitted (9). The author then speculates on the future of diabetes treatment, acknowledging some of the barriers and moral and ethical dilemmas to various forms of treatment (10). The book ends with a conclusion, acknowledgments, appendices including the story of the Monk family (i), knowing one’s BMI (ii), knowing one’s estimated average glucose level (iii), and being informed and prepared for checkups (iv), after which there is an index.