No-Sugar Added Poetry Book Tells Diabetes Like It Is

BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- No-Sugar Added Poetry, a breathtaking and beautiful new collection of 39 poems written by people touched by diabetes from around the world, has just been published by the Diabetes Hands Foundation (www.diabeteshandsfoundation.org). The collection provides profound insight into the challenges, hopes, and fears of those living with diabetes through the power of their poetry.

As Dr. Bill Polonsky, CEO of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute, writes in the foreword, these poems "speak to the emotional effort of trying to figure out how to fit the uninvited guest of diabetes into life."

When the Diabetes Hands Foundation held a poetry contest in 2009, more than a hundred people responded to the call. People with diabetes, parents and other loved ones, health care professionals and other members of the TuDiabetes (http://www.tudiabetes.org) and EsTuDiabetes (http://www.estudiabetes.org) social networks shared their poetry about how diabetes has touched their lives.

"We were humbled to read the submissions from the participants. It was very difficult to choose from so many beautiful poems," said Manny Hernandez, president of the Diabetes Hands Foundation. "In the book, we describe through poetry the stages of life with diabetes – from diagnosis all the way to acceptance."

Copies of No-Sugar Added Poetry are available at the Diabetes Hands Foundation booth (2175) Aug. 4-7 during the 37th annual American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) conference in San Antonio. The Diabetes Hands Foundation is also giving away copies of the book through a contest on Twitter until Friday, Aug. 6. Rules for the give-away can be found at http://www.tudiabetes.org/profiles/blogs/win-a-copy-of-nosugar-added.  

The Diabetes Hands Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting people touched by diabetes and raising diabetes awareness, published this compilation with sponsorship provided by Roche Diabetes Care, makers of ACCU-CHEK® blood glucose meters, infusion pumps, lancing and data management systems. No-Sugar Added Poetry includes thirty-five lyric poems and four haiku about life with diabetes.

Besides helping people who read No-Sugar Added Poetry better understand the ramifications of life with this complicated chronic condition, the book reminds the reader of the cathartic power of poetic expression. Lee Ann Thill, a certified art therapist and diabetes patient since 1978 sums it up in the introduction: "From words, carefully chosen, purposefully arranged, emerges a shared experience and mutual understanding."

No-Sugar Added Poetry can be ordered at: www.NoSugarAddedPoetry.org.

About the Diabetes Hands Foundation (DHF)

The Diabetes Hands Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to connecting people touched by diabetes (those with diabetes as well as their loved ones) and raising diabetes awareness.

Through its online communities (TuDiabetes.org in English, EsTuDiabetes.org in Spanish) and its other social media channels, DHF offers support and information to nearly 200,000 people every month. Since 2008, DHF has developed pioneering diabetes awareness programs such as Word In Your Hand™, Drawing Diabetes, No-Sugar Added Poetry, Making Sense of Diabetes and The Big Blue Test.

For more information, please visit www.diabeteshandsfoundation.org

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/diabetesHF

On Twitter: twitter.com/diabetesHF

On YouTube: www.youtube.com/DiabetesHands

About Roche Diabetes Care

Roche Diabetes Care is a pioneer in the development of blood glucose monitoring systems and a global leader for diabetes management systems and services. For more than 30 years, Roche has been committed to helping people with diabetes live lives that are as normal and active as possible and has been helping healthcare professionals manage their patients' condition in an optimal way. Today, the ACCU-CHEK portfolio offers people with diabetes and healthcare professionals innovative products, services and comprehensive solutions for convenient, efficient and effective diabetes management—from blood glucose monitoring through information management to insulin delivery. The ACCU-CHEK brand encompasses blood glucose meters, infusion pumps, lancing and data management systems.

For more information, please visit accu-chek.com.

BOOK DETAILS:

Title: No-Sugar Added Poetry

By: multiple authors

Publisher: Diabetes Hands Foundation

Foreword: Dr. William H. Polonsky

Introduction: Lee Ann Thill

Publication date: July 2010

Price: $15

Number of pages: 112

Illustrations, design: Andreina Davila

ISBN: 978-0-578-05380-6

Contact: [email protected] - (510) 8981301

SOURCE Diabetes Hands Foundation