The biggest prick of all - diabetes

Nov. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- WITH nearly 80 million Americans, 7 million Britons and 3 million Australians at risk of having potentially fatal diabetes, an important new book has just been launched to help people diagnose and manage the condition. This is a book the health professionals would never write. It is written by a real person for real people in real language. While the health professionals who have reviewed it are gasping the overwhelming sentiment being reflected is, “Why didn’t anyone ever explain it like this before?”

Called Don’t Feel Like a Prick?, the book was written by Alby Mangels’ authorised biographer/ manager of nine years and recently diagnosed diabetic Lynn Santer.

It is a companion to an upcoming film on diabetes of the same title that the Gold Coast author is co-producing with Alby in collaboration with Diabetes Australia.  After reading the book, Diabetes Australia Health Committee chairman Dr Michael d’Emden said Ms Santer was “a gung ho, out there, take no prisoners, type A personality” while Prof Paul Zimmet, Foundation Director of the highly respected Baker International Diabetes Institute said “I found your sections on metabolic syndrome and LADA excellent” - and that is from the man who invented the term LADA! (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adults) In fact the second print of this book has been revised with new information from Professor Zimmet.

The simply written book is the first of its kind in the world which aims to help newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics, pre-diabetics and friends and family of diabetics. There has never been a book on diabetes like this one, it is written in an engaging and entertaining manner that people will want to read, with plenty of cheeky cartoons, celebrity interest and even some adults-only content.

“It’s small, easy to follow, a bit irreverent, at turns funny, poignant, unapologetically confrontational and deliberately not politically correct. It contains personal stories and is an enjoyable and page-turning read with simple, useful information and messages. There are lots of tips and tricks to manage diabetes and we touch on the psychology of why so many are ignoring it,” Ms Santer said.

“Only a mere 18 per cent of diagnosed diabetics are managing their condition (according to a recent study from the Institute of Health and Welfare), which is terrifying as diabetes is in the top 10 causes of death, according to the Bureau of Statistics. Part of the reason people are living in denial is the lack of symptoms and the information out there is too complicated to understand. This book gets back to basics.”

The number of people at risk in Australia alone is estimated at 680,000 undiagnosed type 2 diabetics and two million or 10% of the population pre-diabetics, and not all of those people are middle-aged, overweight and inactive – this can happen to anyone.

If you don’t have diabetes, you know someone who does, even if they don’t know it, so everyone should read this book. The life you save by taking the advice in this book might be your own! There is no cure for diabetes but it can be controlled if people take the test to find out if they have it. Most of the complications with diabetes set in prior to diagnosis because people won’t get tested. According to national diabetes statistics released by the US government, the risk of death among people with diabetes is twice that of a person the same age who does not have diabetes.

The Santer/Mangels Don’t Feel Like a Prick? film will feature celebrities including Herb Armstrong (jazz great Louis Armstrong’s grandson), pop singing legend Leo Sayer and the music of New York child singing sensation Jackie Evancho.

Alby will be meeting with world renowned specialists and personalities in bringing this important message to the world, including prominent figures in the UK and France, an endocrinologist, diabetic dietician and a professor on behavioural patterns that can lead to diabetes.

The book is available at Amazon www.albyshop.com, and www.lynnsanter.com

A percentage of all profits from the book will go towards diabetes research.

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY: is available with Lynn Santer. Alby Mangels comments can only be obtained by email via Lynn Santer. For an interview with Lynn, comments by Alby, book review copies or photos, contact Aldwyn Altuney of AA Xposé Media on + 61 (0) 7 5571 0233, or + 61 (0) 409 895 055 or email: aldwyn@aaxpose.com or lynn@lynnsanter.com