Q & A Author Interview
Patient education book for Atrial Fibrillation Patients and their Families
Beat Your A-Fib: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Cure
Q & A with Steve S. Ryan, PhD
1. Why did you write Beat Your A-Fib: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Cure?Q & A with Steve S. Ryan, PhD
The short answer is that readers of A-Fib.com, my website, kept asking for it. I’m a former A-Fib patient, not a medical doctor. I wrote the book to spare others the agony I went through to get the facts about A-Fib and how to be cured.
Beat Your A-Fib grew out of writing and publishing, Atrial Fibrillation: Resources for Patients (A-Fib.com), now in its 10th year. Since 2002, I’ve written about best practices, cutting-edge techniques, new technologies and emerging treatments. Thousands visit my website every month looking for unbiased information, written in everyday language, not medical terminology. Readers kept asking if the same information was in a book.
2. Who is the book written for?
Beat Your A-Fib is written for the newly diagnosed A-Fib patient, and every A-Fib patient who wants to understand their illness but doesn’t want to wade through medical books and research journals. It’s written for everyone coping with this disease including family, friends and colleagues of someone dealing with this life altering disease.
3. Why should patients read your book?
Many sources of A-Fib information online and in print contain outdated or misinformation. Some sources are subtly biased toward a particular drug, medical procedure, or surgery. This book bends over backwards to be unbiased. Beat Your A-Fib is an up-to-date source written in plain language but solidly based on best practices and the latest research findings. All written by someone deliberately not affiliated with any medical school, pharmaceutical company, device manufacturer, or healthcare provider.
It’s also a book of encouragement and hope. It not only gives facts and explains medical concepts, but shares lessons learned from other A-Fib patients. Beat Your A-Fib helps patients know they aren’t alone in trying to deal with this disease. Beat Your A-Fib: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Cure is unlike any book on the market today.
4. What makes you an authority in this area?
I’ve had A-Fib, and I’ve done my homework. Starting in 1997, I’ve studied the research, conversed with leading cardiologists, and reported about major conferences including the annual Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium. Medical professionals around the world refer their patients to my non-profit website, Atrial Fibrillation: Resources for Patients (www.A-Fib.com). I’ve corresponded with many, many patients seeking relief from the burden of Atrial Fibrillation. Within the A-Fib community, I am known as an advocate for patients suffering from A-Fib.
5. What makes your book unique?
First, Beat Your A-Fib is written for the patient, in plain language, not medical terminology. Second, it gives patients the tools to seek a cure for their A-Fib (not just manage it) and empowers them to become their own best patient advocate. Third, it’s the most up-to-date book of its kind on the market. “Beat Your A-Fib: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Cure” may well become the standard reference for A-Fib patients.
6. What reaction to the book have you gotten from the medical community?
After reading the early draft of Beat Your A-Fib, Dr. Walter Kerwin, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and Dr. Steven C. Hao of California Pacific Medical Center offered to write the book’s Foreword and Introduction respectively. I am deeply honored to have their good opinion and support. Quite a few cardiologists and other medical professionals have endorsed the book as well. On the patient side, our beta-version readers, current and former A-Fib patients, have offered words of praise as well. How gratifying!
7. Can physicians and medical practices buy the book in bulk for their patients?
Yes, of course. Wholesale pricing is available, as well as options to customize the cover, perhaps adding their logo and the words “Complimentary copy provided by …”
Both the digital version and the print book are available through the website www.BeatYourA-Fib.com and through major online booksellers including Amazon.com (pending).
About the Author
Dr. Steve Ryan, PhD, is a noted healthcare educator and advocate for patients with Atrial Fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia. He is author of Beat Your A-Fib: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Cure, published in 2012.
In 2002, Dr. Ryan started Atrial Fibrillation: Resources for Patients (www.AFib.com) a source of well-researched, unbiased information on current and emerging treatments, resources and medical research―all written in plain language for the non-medical reader.
Every month tens of thousands of A-Fib patients and their families visit A-Fib.com seeking hope and guidance. Healthcare professionals and groups around the world refer their patients to www.A-Fib.com.
Dr. Ryan earned his Ph.D. in Educational Communications from the Ohio State University and for many years taught film and television courses at the college level. He and his wife, Patti, live in Malibu, California, USA.
For a more detailed background, see Steve S. Ryan, PhD on LinkedIn.
To purchase copies in bulk for your practice, or to discuss custom cover options, contact the publisher, AFib, Inc. through Patti Ryan, Email: Visit our contact page or toll-free at 855-457-7146. Or visit the book site, http://www.BeatYourA-Fib.com. Steve S. Ryan, PhD on LinkedIn.
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