Dr. S.M.Sadikot.
Hon. Endocrinologist,
Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre,
Mumbai 400026

In today's world, the big " buzz" word is that you must take charge of your own diabetes and that doctors should only be there to guide and advise.

Which is all very fine, but how is one expected to take charge of one's diabetes, unless one understands the basics of diabetes! Unless you understand the problem, you can rarely control it, leave alone take charge of it.

Many of you may have seen the famous film, "Patton" in which there is scene where General Patton defeats Rommel in tank warfare in the Arabian deserts. When Patton has won over Rommel, long considered the ultimate master of desert warfare, so much so that he was nicknamed the "desert rat", Patton waves a book on tank warfare on the desert written by Rommel and shouts, " I mastered your own book, you…..!" Patton had defeated Rommel by having knowledge about desert tank warfare by learning from the master, and using this knowledge he was able to defeat Germans.

If you are to take charge of your diabetes, you also will similarly have to understand the problem before you will be able to take charge of it.