Diabetes is all about sugar. And for the millions of people worldwide who live with one of the two forms of the disease, diabetes also is all about understanding causes, symptoms, treatments, and the importance of diet and exercise. Among medical conditions, few diseases have been shown to affect every part of the person. Diabetes claims that reputation, making knowledge the best medicine for thriving with – not just surviving – this common mind and body health challenge.

A diagnosis of diabetes may send shivers through the patient, ripples that reach out to family, friends, associates, acquaintances, and folks who'll someday cross paths – personally or professionally. Diabetes For Dummies speaks to anyone who wants to know what the disease will mean in their own or someone else's experience, from the first moment when the word darts out of the doctor's mouth through all the ups and down of a long and satisfying life. This down-to-earth, compassionate guide gives you the nitty-gritty on wa ys to

• Prevent and manage diabetes
• Choose the best treatment plan
• Find the right practitioner
• Build a support team
• Stick to an effective diet program
• Locate additional help online

A healthy supply of knowledge and insight can help you face the facts of diabetes, a major medical condition surrounded by myth and personal opinion – some well-founded and some, well, fabricated. Diabetes For Dummies explores the real deal on

• Working through your initial reaction to a diagnosis of diabetes.
• Knowing what whether you have type 1 or type 2.
• Battling short- and long-term complications.
• Monitoring your glucose.
• Managing the disease with diet and exercise.
• Helping your child or parent handle his or her own diabetes.
• Cooking up diabetes-friendly meals with tasty recipes.

By following the rules of good diabetic care, you actually can be healthier than people without diabetes who smoke, overeat, under-exercise, or combine these and other unhealthy habits. This friendly resource will move beyond the "bad" news sensed at diagnosis to a good start at staying fit and feeling great!