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Newly Diagnosed Looking for Recommended Book

BeeS4335

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I have today been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Nurse at my Surgery highly recommended this forum and also said I could benefit by getting the diabetes.co.uk book. Stupidly I didn't ask for the exact title. If anyone could steer me toward that or any other useful publicatio I'd be most grateful. It seems my Surgery used to give a copy to newly diagnosed patients but the practice had to stop.
 
Hi Bee and welcome to the forum :)
I'm afraid I don't know about the book but I'm sure other members will. What will help you though is this information that we give to new members which will help you to get started. Ask as many questions as you need to as there is always someone here to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS


Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
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Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
 
I suspect the book recommended by your nurse is this one which is produced by Diabetes UK .This is the charity and has no association with this forum.
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/OnlineShop/ ... d-tablets/
A book often suggested on diabetes forums and one I that I think is useful is :
The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed [Paperback]
Gretchen Becker
 
I'd recommend Blood Sugar 101 if you are Type 2, although it is American. You don't need to spend any money on it - just visit the website for the book (Google it) and all the info is there for free. I found the info I needed to manage my diabetes and substantially improve my health there. However, a lot of the info you get will be completely different to the NHS and DUK advice. You can also look up "dsolve" which is written by a British GP who was formerly a member here. All free!
 
Hi. The books I used most are Richard Bernsteins Diabetes solution. and Blood sugars 101. There's a web site also for blood sugar 101, and Dr bernstein will reply to emails details in his book
If you want to get deeper into diabetes study try the diabetology web site, this is fairly advanced though. It may be worth waiting a while before you get into this one.
This forum is great and many peole have a great deal of knowledge. It seems to take me an age to learn these days
 
paragliderpete said:
Hi. The books I used most are Richard Bernsteins Diabetes solution. and Blood sugars 101. There's a web site also for blood sugar 101, and Dr bernstein will reply to emails details in his book

Agree with these. Another is Dr. Robert Atkins New Diet Revolution and to help with carb counting, Collins gem Carb counter.
 
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