THE ABC'S OF DIABETES

There's a lot of useful material in this book, but try to find it! The authors have done it all alphabetically. If perchance you might be interested in the current research on diabetes you can find it under R for RESEARCH where you get a few pages with subheads about cause, cures, complications, and treatments--all sandwiched between REPLACEMENT THERAPY and RESIDENT (the M.D. in the hospital). The entries themselves are also arbitrary. For example, PIPE-SMOKING, see TOBACCO--which entry is followed by TOENAILS, see FEET, CARE OF. True, all this is germane to the diabetic: smoking is assumed to damage small as well as large blood vessels, and one theory of diabetes is that it is essentially a vascular disease; foot care is important, too, because diabetics are likely to suffer diminished peripheral sensation and blood circulation--which increases the risk of infection, skin ulcerations, etc. But you'd have to know something about diabetes in the first place to see why the entries are there. On the other hand, some definitions are superficial or simply inadequate. To What to do? Either be the sort who enjoys reading dictionaries from cover to cover or likes random dipping, or else tell the authors to organize themselves better the next time.