Achieve Diabetes Management Success with Think Like a Pancreas: A Practical Guide to Understanding Insulin

lynne-e-lou: What puts me off this publication is that the author finishes every early paragraph with 'if you get your diabetes in order, everything else will fall into place'. It's not really what one wants to be reading.
Obviously, I bought the book as I thought I might learn something. I have had Type 1 diabetes for nearly 50 years so I'm not a newbie,
however I am new to the pump I now wear, which isn't always so great. I'm not sure the book will teach me anything - we'll see.

United Kingdom on Nov 29, 2022

Robert J. Newell: I know this book is controversial in some circles but I actually liked it and found some useful information in it. Or, more like reinforcement of useful information.

The 'new' things--- or thing--- that the book gave me was a quick way to figure daily insulin requirements. Everything else (and that as well, had I looked further) is available online somewhere. So you don't really need the book, except for the convenience of having everything gathered in one place.

There's plenty about how the pancreas works, about how diabetes works, etc. etc. That's all good basic diabetes education and it rises well above the absurd grade school level of pamphlets given out by endocrinologists, who seem to want to maintain a certain mystique about the disease. If you start out knowing only a little this book will bring you a long way forward, and that's a good thing.

On the other hand, if you're already knowledgeable, you won't find a lot here except, as I said above, having the convenience of everything in one place.

Still, I fail to understand the severe critics of this book. The information is indeed practical and accurate, there is no hype or promise of magic cures...

United States on Nov 28, 2018

Samuele.Cescato: Consigliatissimo a tutte le persone con diabete o che hanno a che fare con persone con questa malattia! Copre davvero tutti gli aspetti e tutti i vari tipi di diabete, spiegando nei minimi particolari come funziona il corpo e come reagisce alle varie problematiche che possono insorgere, dalle ipoglicemie alla chetosi.
L'unica pecca è che essendo del 2012 non è aggiornato sull'argomento microinfusori (per quanto però vi sia una sezione interamente dedicata al "fine tuning" della basale, che secondo me da sola varrebbe già il prezzo richiesto per il libro intero), sensori CGM/FGM (c'è però un'altra pubblicazione dedicata, dello stesso autore, risalente al 2015), e insuline (la più recente di cui si parla è Lantus, niente Tresiba né Fiasp etc).
Concludo dicendo che l'inglese utilizzato è molto semplice!

Italy on Aug 06, 2018

strob: Having dealt with the information overload that comes with a Type 1 diagnosis I initially thought I didn't want any more reading but this book was recommended to me by almost every diabetic I met. Obviously this is from an American viewpoint and some of the details are less relevant to us Brits but the information is, in general, excellent. I asked every nurse/doctor I saw when I was diagnosed if they were diabetic and none of them were so no-one was able to speak from experience. Gary Scheiner does speak from experience and gives a lot of practical advice on how to deal with diabetes...for life. Diabetes is different for everyone but I think the information in this book can help each of us deal with our diabetes to the best of our ability.

Only takes about 90 minutes to read through initially - then you need to read each chapter and learn how to apply the knowledge provided to your own circumstances. In the six months since diagnosis this is the book I have reached for before any other information when I have had a question or wanted to look up a detail or two. Well worth the money.

United Kingdom on Feb 19, 2018

G. P. Bathe: After being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, I soon realised I had to play a very active role in managing my blood sugar level . If my blood sugar level were to drop too low, even temporarily, I might behave erratically or pass out. If my blood sugar level were to be persistently high, I could face serious health problems such as blindness, heart attack or kidney failure. In order to succeed in controlling my blood sugar level I had to balance my insulin doses against factors such as food and exercise, and to do that I needed appropriate knowledge.

For a time, trying to get the required depth of knowledge was frustrating. There was not enough information in the free leaflets, the tabloid-style websites or the general-purpose books on diabetes aimed primarily at Type 2 diabetics. Then thankfully I found this book.

The author of this book has medical training and has had Type 1 diabetes for many years, and so he knows what he is talking about from both the professional viewpoint and the patient viewpoint. He has attempted to write a very readable book about a very serious subject, and generally he has succeeded. There are just a few places where the text seems a bit too...

United Kingdom on Mar 24, 2014

Desert Willow: Lots of positive chatter about this book, so I ordered it. My DH is 52, lifelong Type 1, super-active so we're always looking for useful tidbits.

Unfortunately this book's content is pretty elementary. It would be an improvement over the pamphlet you got when you were first diagnosed, but it would certainly be useful only in the first 6 mos - 1 year or so, and then only if your lifestyle is pretty plain vanilla. If you work unusual hours or rotate shifts, if you travel constantly or have a job with loads of stress, if you're extremely athletic, if you have other health issues that seriously affect control, if you're determined to go for tight control, this is not the book for you.

Scheiner skips the hands-on details of how to do a lot of things (like down-and-dirty details of adjusting basals and boluses for pump users in complex scenarios). He gives the Readers Digest version but not the super-detailed version. As you'll see throughout the book, Scheiner would like you to consult with his diabetes practice to deal with these trickier situations. Just my personal opinion, but I don't think plugs for your business belong in the actual content of a book like this. If...

United States on Aug 07, 2013

Bernard Farrell: Gary Scheiner's first edition of this book was excellent, it's hard to believe that he could improve on it so much.

Full disclosure: I've used Gary's services at Integrated Diabetes Services and benefited greatly from his help. My diabetes technology blog is mentioned in the book. I have had type 1 diabetes for 40 years, this book informed and motivated me.

Think Like a Pancreas starts with Gary's diabetes diagnosis story - this guy really gets diabetes because he's had Type 1 since 1985. He has used many different types of diabetes insulin pumps, blood glucose meters, and continuous glucose meters (CGM).

The second chapter (What's the Dang Diddly Point?) focuses on the reasons why blood glucose (BG) control is important. Instead of telling you just about 'complications', Gary explains that improved control will give you energy, reduce your appetite, keep you healthier, and give you the ability to lift cars with one hand. OK, I'm just kidding about the last one. But this chapter is motivating and empowering, you'll WANT to work at improving you BGs after reading this one.

As he says at the start of the chapter "Taking care of diabetes is really just an...

United States on Sep 06, 2012

Beanjamina: This book should be required reading for all diabetics, particularly those who are insulin dependent. I have been diabetic for 24 years and feel that if I had had this information from the start I may well have been able to avoid some of the complications I am experiencing now. Although the author is American, it is not in any way difficult to follow for the European reader and the explanations of how insulin works are easy to understand. The various techniques for calculating insulin doses and getting the basal rate correct are perfectly simple and more importantly work. Since reading this book, my control has improved a lot; my last HBA1C was 6.2 whereas previously I had been struggling to get below 8.0. Education for diabetics in the UK is a bit hit and miss I think and focuses more on telling you what to do rather than on explaining why. I have often been in a situation where I have felt that I know as much if not more about diabetes than the medical professionals who are supposed to be guiding me which is an uncomfortable position to be in, particularly if you are struggling a bit. With this book I have felt a lot more confident about my illness and a lot more in control. I...

United Kingdom on May 11, 2012