A Review of Joslin's Diabetes Deskbook

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It is with some trepidation that I dothis review. In the six days, I have had the book; I have beenreading more in one book than I have in a long time. The book iswell thought out and much more descriptive than I had anticipatedfrom the excerpts I have read. Yes, it is technical at times, butfor me this is great as I now have some explanations to many ideasthat had been too vague for me in the past. As a blogger, this bookanswers many questions for me. I hope that it will make me a moreknowledgeable blogger and able to transmit this informationto others.
Now I have the task of rereading andlooking up some of the terms that I am not familiar with or even know. Medical terminology has never been one of my strong points and I amlearning now. Thank goodness for medical dictionaries!
There are times in reading that you arereferred back to previous information and tables and this isdisconcerting for me. I admit I am used to technical books wheresometimes information is duplicated to avoid going back and forthwhile reading. In technical manuals, we would occasionally haveinserts to a publication that could be removed and become readilyavailable to be viewed without hunting the pages referred to andloosing where you were. Granted 714 pages is a lot of informationand information duplication would have added pages.
In general, I could appreciate theorder of discussion and the table of contents is descriptive enoughto make topics easily located. Unless you know what you are lookingfor, the index can be confusing. This is because the correct medicalterm is used instead of the common terms used by patients. Yes,there are some terms I know from research reading and common termsare used when they have been accepted by people. This is generallydetermined by the American Diabetes Association.
Since the number of excerpts from thebook is still under 25, there are many topics that have not beencovered. It will be interesting to compare more excerpts to thebook.
For those that do not follow the dogmaof ADA, this book is not for you. ADA is often mentioned andinformation is quoted. While I am not following much of the ADA lineof thinking, it is interesting the amount of time the term individualis used. I would say that in most cases, treatment is tailored forthe individual. I have found one topic when I feel that theindividual is treated to a one-size-fits-all solution, but I willleave that for another blog.
I have enjoyed my first reading and Iwill be returning the loaned copy as soon as my book arrives. I havea lot of reading to do again and will be using many of the excerptsfor blog ideas. A statement that I read when researching the book,“This book is not for easy reading and may not be for patients.” This is somewhat in line, but the book is readable and if you enjoyreading technical writings, this book will not disappoint you. Thereare sections of easy reading and areas of technical information. The excerpts are mostly taken from theeasy reading sections.