Ebook: Life Without Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes has reached pandemic proportions worldwide. In
1980 we estimated that there were fewer than 100 million people
affected – but since then numbers have increased year by year so
that we are now heading for 450 million plus as many again at high
risk. No populations have been spared but figures are particularly
high amongst countries in the Middle East and South Asians. What
is the cause? The big increase has been related to the epidemic of
obesity, lack of exercise and adoption of “modern” nutrition against
a genetic susceptibility background. But the precise cause has not
previously been identified. Indeed when WHO reclassified types of
diabetes in 1979, type 2 diabetes was diagnosed by exclusion: it
was what was left over after type 1 diabetes and other types with
known causes were excluded. It was anticipated that the number
of people in the type 2 category would fall as specific causes were
found. However, in the intervening 40 years one could cynically
suggest that not too much has changed. There has been a massive
hunt for responsible genes with only limited success. The
association with overweight/obesity has certainly been
strengthened although many people with type 2 diabetes are not
particularly overweight. Otherwise it has been a slightly gloomy
picture particularly for those who have the disorder. There has also
been the view that it is in most people an irreversible disorder.
Professor Taylor in this book shows that the situation is more
optimistic. With appropriate food habits and weight loss diabetes
CAN be reversed in many people. This is encouraging for the many
who have tried but failed due to lack of support and appropriate
advice. Even more important he has identified the key role that fat
deposits in the liver and pancreas are fundamental to the
development of type 2 diabetes, explaining its hallmarks of
diminished insulin secretion and insulin resistance.
The book has something for everyone and is written in an
engaging style. There is an excellent expose of how metabolism
works and how glucose is made and used, and how this all goes
wrong in type 2 diabetes. He then goes on to show how it can be
controlled or indeed reversed by sensible lifestyle and diet choices.
It is eminently readable and suitable for anyone with an interest be
they people with diabetes, those with diabetes in the family, anyone
curious as to what happens to food in their body or health care
professionals. The book breaks new ground and is a compelling
and instructive read.