Think Like a Pancreas

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Actually, the title makes sense, because it clearly reflects the author’s breezy style. Further, the style is paired with a greater depth of information on taking insulin than in anything else I have ever read. There is a lot that I didn’t know before and even more that I knew but not the reasons why.

The coverage of insulin use is so complete yet so accessible that I would have thought that it could only have been produced by someone who was an experienced journalist who had diabetes and is also a Certified Diabetes Educator. I was right on the last two points, by as far as I know the author, Gary Scheiner, is not a journalist. This is, however, at least his second book (he is the co-author of You Can Control Diabetes: A Personal Guide to Self Empowerment, a 340-page comprehensive reference on diabetes self-management). He also edited a journal for a couple of years, for which I can forgive him because I edited a magazine for a few years myself.

His treatment of how to handle both normal and severe lows alone is worth the price of admission, i.e. buying the book. Many people will find his comprehensive chapters on basal insulin dosing and bolus calculations just as valuable.

There’s a lot more here succinctly told in just 241 pages. While I wonder about certain details, the worst mistake that I caught was a misspelling of my name, which also can be forgiven.

The nation’s leading publisher of books on diabetes, Marlowe & Company in New York will bring out Think Like a Pancreas: A Practical Guide to Managing Diabetes with Insulin by Gary Scheiner, MS, CDE, on August 3 for $15.95. It will be available in most bookstores and from Gary’s website, http://www.integrateddiabetes.com. It is must reading for anyone who uses insulin.