Think Like a Pancreas - Gary Scheiner

[Northerner]

More of a review than a recommendation, just in case anyone's thinking of buying this.

The book suffers somewhat (for me) in being written for the American market. Although he does, on the whole, quote mmol/l alongside mg/dl, for some reason he just quotes the mg/dl in his examples. I'm still not familiar enough with the US numbers for them to immediately mean anything, so find myself having to divide by 18 all the time (I have the same problem with kilometres/miles and kilos/pounds!). Similarly, food measurements are given in things like 'cups', or confusing stuff like '10gm carbs in 1oz/cup of whatever..' - no wonder NASA sent the Mars Orbiter crashing into the planet when they confused imperial/metric!

There is some good stuff in here, like how to test/set basal insulin levels and the full-blown calculations for bolus doses, including taking physical activity into consideration, but again there's a lot of stuff that meant little to me like the US names of insulin or mixing stuff in syringes(unless you've got an awful lot of insulin to take why would you use a syringe these days?). The stuff on pumps is informative, but if I was on a pump I'd prefer a more specific book, this one wouldn't really tell me enough.

Finally, the book seemed a little outdated as I believe most people nowadays are started on MDI (awaits flood of messages to the contrary🙂). I think if you are an established insulin user on one of the older regimens and insulin types you wouldn't really learn much from this.

My personal opinion - I've read better written and more relevant books on diabetes in the few months since diagnosis.

Think Like a Pancreas (amazon link)

 

[sofaraway]

Thanks for the review, i have been wanting to get this book and had generally heard good things about it. My brother is getting the book for me.
How does it compare to 'Using Insulin' if you or anyone else has read both?

 

[aymes]

I've just started reading think like a pancreas, I've only read a few chapters so far and found them useful, I'll pop back on here when I've finished to add what I think!
A

 

[Northerner]

Thanks for the review, i have been wanting to get this book and had generally heard good things about it. My brother is getting the book for me.
How does it compare to 'Using Insulin' if you or anyone else has read both?

Haven't read Using Insulin - that might be next on my list!

 

[randomange]

Thanks for the review, i have been wanting to get this book and had generally heard good things about it. My brother is getting the book for me.
How does it compare to 'Using Insulin' if you or anyone else has read both?

I've read both. I read 'Think Like a Pancreas' first, and I definitely found it useful, and it taught me a lot - I didn't really know much about things like basal testing before I read it. However, I prefer 'Using Insulin'. I just find it easier to read, and I feel it's written in a more informative and constructive way. It's also a bit more up to date i.e. with the different insulins it describes. 🙂

 

[skidmoreec]

I found this book BRILLIANT - however, I am an insulin pump user, so it was a bit more relevant. I have recommended this before but specifically for insulin pumps.

 

[magpie]

Excellent book

Best book I've read and found it a real help in my early days of using insulin. There's a more recent second edition out.

 

[Shimmmer]

I found the exercise bolus excellent and I have often used the correction formula too. I found this book very informative and helpful and I am pleased there is an update to it.

 

[trophywench]

LOL - TLAP is ensconced on the 'Reference' shelf of my bookcase alongside 'Pumping Insulin' and the OED etc as I type!