Type 2 diabetes is a social pandemic caused by toxic environments-high in stress and sugar, low in opportunities to exercise or feel good about yourself-and a lack of power. Millions are suffering and being blamed for it; communities devastated; health systems bankrupted.

Diabetes: Sugar-Coated Crisis describes the social sources of the toxic environment, covering deeper causes, too: the stress and inequality built into our modern culture, the traumas and loss of community that make people vulnerable to illness. It reveals the medical mistreatment of diabetes-from kicking diabetics off medical insurance to underfunding diabetes education, from over-emphasizing drugs to giving corporate-influenced dietary advice.

Social diseases require social solutions. Social approaches focus on empowering people to take better care of themselves, bringing people together for mutual support, and changing the environment that causes illness. The first book to bring to life effective social approaches to wellness, this book:

• reports success stories from communities around the world
• highlights creative and effective medical programs developed by groundbreaking health care providers
• describes ways that individual self-care plus family and community involvement, combined with health care system support, can control chronic illness, change environments, and transform people's lives, and
• includes valuable diabetes self-care tips and resources.