Last week I mentioned a book I’d read about from a 23 year old guy in the UK who’d had type 1 diabetes since he was 13: Joe’s Rough Guide to Diabetes.

I promptly downloaded the e-book (which I encourage you to do, it was only about NZ$10) and set about reading it.

My review:

• A very easy read, it only took me a few hours to finish it.
• Would be perfect if you have a teenager with type 1 diabetes.
• Loved the mantra he used, “I am my own best doctor” – so true!
• The ‘biology of diabetes’ bit from page 11 was really clearly laid out – a great refresher for those of us who are long in the tooth with T1 or for newbies, or even for well-meaning friends and family or colleagues whom you want to educate.
• Very honest: he tells a story early on about overdoing the alcohol and under-doing the insulin and ending up in hospital.
• He talks about having the option of two or four injections a day quite a bit, which seems a bit limiting to me. Most people on MDI I would imagine are taking however many injections they need to include corrections plus small meals/snacks so I feel like this doesn’t take into account the flexible way people take injections nowadays (for example those following the DAFNE methods). He also vaguely talks about insulin pumps but doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about them as doesn’t seem to know much about them (which is fair enough, the book is not about what method of insulin administration you are using, and he’s not claiming to be an expert)
• Page 22 has a clever tip on alternating injection sites.
• He has obviously tested, tested and tested some more and come up with some pretty hard core ratios for how to manage each situation (such as exercise, drinking, food etc). He seems like a pretty scientific/mathematical kind of guy. I have to admit I found some of it went in one ear and out the other as I tend to use a few ratios and a lot of intuition and trial and error. Definitely worth looking at it from his point of view though, and his methods will work for some of you.
• His chapters on sex, drugs and alcohol are refreshing, honest and sensible. Definitely worth it if you’re raising a T1 teen or if you are one yourself.
• I like the fact he’s included chapters on travelling, and diabetes in the heat.
• Some things are quite English, you’ll need to filter them.
• He includes some rather intense examples at the end which I found a little too hard-core, but I might go back and read them when I’m a little less tired!

Overall I rate this book. It’s easy to read, and made it clean through my bull-shit detector (very important). It would be great to read if you’re a parent of a teen or a pre-teen with diabetes, or if you are one yourself, or if you’re a new recruit to T1 of any age. Nice one Joe!