The new Reader’s Digest compilation of its best articles on diabetes is titled “Managing Diabetes & Preventing It.” This book covers every aspect of the problem: causes, medication, diet and all-round management. It’s worrying every time we read that India is the world’s diabetes capital (although China recently beat us to that title). Diabetes has become a problem for members of every other Indian family. The statistics were already alarming and, all of a sudden, we have a report from the Indian Council of Medical Research, which maintains that there are really many more diabetics in India than was earlier reported. The new estimates: at least 62 million diabetics and 77 million others termed as pre-diabetic, meaning they are on the fringes of developing this chronic condition. Also, there are many more diabetics in urban India than in our villages, where people live more active lives and are generally unable to eat rich, unhealthy diets. The new book hasn’t left out history—there’s a classic article by Dr Charles Best, one of the two researchers who discovered insulin in the 1920s. The book also dispels many myths about diabetes, including the common one that sugar causes it. For diabetics, there are valuable tips to tackle the complications that subsequently set in. Another informative article offers alternative therapies like acupuncture and a brief description of several time-tested herbs that decrease blood-sugar. This new book can save lives.