Professor Merlin Thomas - Understanding Type 2 Diabetes: Fewer Highs, Fewer Lows, Better Health

In Greek mythology, a king called Sisyphus was cursed for his past excesses. His solitary punishment was to push an immense boulder up a steep hill, only to have it roll back down and the task to start all over again. Diabetes might also seem like a curse to an eternity of useless repetition and unending frustration, but its not like that at all.

First, your goals of understanding and managing your diabetes are achievable. With the application of good diabetes care, healthy nutrition and regular physical activity, most people with type 2 diabetes lead full and healthy lives. Your effort is never futile.

Second, managing diabetes is not as hard as it sounds. What might appear on the surface to be an enormous or complex undertaking can become quite effortless with practice and application.

Third, diabetes management is not a punishment. It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that some suffering is the price of good health, like the distasteful medicine you must swallow to get well. But dieting is not punishment for the nutritionally wicked, nor is exercise the castigation of the couch potato. These are positive steps that have their own rewards.

Fourth, diabetes management requires a careful coordination of physical activity, diet and medication. But this does not mean you have to do the same things every day or eat the same restrictive diet, trapped in a tedious and repetitive cycle of care. In fact, diabetes management can be very flexible, matching individual requirements and capabilities with diet, exercise or medications.

Finally, you are not alone with your burden. Diabetes management will harness the support of your doctor, diabetes educator, dietician, podiatrist and many other professionals that comprise your diabetes care team. Each person will help you manage your diabetes and make the task of managing diabetes not only feasible but also revitalising.

Diabetes can sometimes feel like a curse to a lifetime of futile repetition. But it is not like this at all!

This book is your guide to diabetes and outlines the many opportunities you have to make a positive difference to your health. It begins by examining what diabetes is and how it comes about. It then goes on to describe the many practical changes you can make to your diet, and the potential strengths as well as weaknesses of these changes. It also looks at physical activity and the different ways exercise can be used to both maintain and improve your health. The book also explores the medical aspects of diabetes care, including practical ways to achieve control of your waistline, blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, as well as the best means to avoid major complications.

You can do this. It is nothing like pushing a rock up a hill.