Alpha Education Books   

Author: Stephen Gislason MD

There are 19 books in this series that address important medical problems and their solution. Our books are designed to give you clear and simple directions and at the same time to provide essential scientific information. The books are written to an intelligent reader who has an unusual interest and ability to learn and organize self-management. To solve a medical problem, important changes to diet, exercise and lifestyle are required. Smart people, given the right information, should be able to self-manage and solve most of their health problems.

The books on specific topics such as skin disorders, digestive disorders, arthritis, asthma, chronic fatigue, celiac disease, are written to an intelligent reader who has an unusual interest and ability to learn and organize self-management. The underlying concept is that the solution for most diseases requires you to become well-informed and to be actively involved in decision-making . We include technical sections and abstracts from the medical literature in many publications. The effort required to read the more technical discussions will be rewarded with better understanding and more confidence in self-management. The information in some texts will overlap to some degree, but the reader may want to go further and order texts that are more detailed. You might become interested in food allergy, for example, when you read discussions in the book, Inflammatory Arthritis or the book, Skin in Health and Disease and want to read more in the book, Food Allergy and Immunology.

Everyone, who is interested in Nutritional Therapy, will need a copy of the Alpha Nutrition Program. To solve many medical problems, changes to diet, increased exercise and lifestyle changes are required.

All the books are available print editions for mail delivery an in eBook versions  (PDF format). We like eBooks because they are easy to update and avoid all the costs and complications of printing and shipping printed books.  eBooks are inexpensive, portable and can be sent immediately with no shipping cost. Downloads are available at Persona Digital Online.

We know that physicians and other professional can benefit from reading our books and the same time we believe that everyone with basic reading skills and good motivation can upgrade their knowledge and understanding.

Self Care

Dr Gislason wrote:  “Selfcare only works if you have adequate knowledge and effective problem solving strategies. In the best case, you would know enough about your body functions to interpret symptoms as they arise and you would take corrective action. You would develop a good sense of what problems you can manage yourself and you would know when to seek help. You would use all the preventive strategies available to you and would use screening tests to detect early stages of disease. I have written several books on specific diseases with the idea of presenting adequate knowledge and suggesting problem solving strategies. "

The Alpha Nutrition Program is a rational plan that requires new learning, discipline and self-control.  A basic intention is to do a better job of self-regulating. Self-regulation implies control over behavior. I learned by watching a few thousand people attempt to do this program that people with some measure of self-control were uncommon. I learned that self-discipline was in short supply and that rational plans tended to fail without a lot of support. Since eating is a social activity, changes in eating habits require a social method. 

Some exceptional people live well-organized lives with traditional lifestyle eating habits and operate from an internal locus of control that gives them an enviable ability to self-manage. If you have a well-developed center, you have an easier time developing new patterns, once you accept that it is necessary and desirable to change. You can plan an orderly transition from old to new. People with a strong internal locus of control are more skilled at collecting and evaluating information. They accept professional advice as information, not as parental authority. They tend to feel more confident making their own decisions.

Interface with MDs

For many years, we have proposed a collaborative relationship between patient and physician. The growth of medical information in the internet gives every intelligent person access to current information and to a variety of options. Often a patient with a specific disease is better informed than the physician.

Carolyn Clancy, director of the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality stated:  Patients are becoming more involved in decisions about their care. Even though this is a major change to how we (MDs) practice medicine, it will, over time, create a genuine partnership between doctors and patients…we recognize the importance of clear, ongoing communication, including questioning why a particular treatment decision was made. We need to engage our patients in the same way. My agency has developed a new public awareness campaign with the Ad Council to encourage patients to take a more active role in their healthcare.“ 

Alpha Education Books are revised annually with new additions for 2010. Click on the book links to the left to review the contents of each book. New Adobe PDF eBook versions for download are now available at the Alpha Online store. Since the Alpha Online site is programmed  for physical shipments to the US and Canada, eBook downloads from Alpha Online can only be ordered from these two countries.
Persona Digital online offers eBook downloads to 40 countries.

Alpha Education Books refer to the Alpha Nutrition Program, a standard method of diet revision.  Starter Packs bundle the Alpha Nutrition Program, other books and formulas to help you get started solving your health problems. The starter packs are sold at discounts of up to 30% to make it easier and more affordable for you to learn more and try our nutrient formulas.  Alpha Education printed books, Alpha Nutrition formulas and Starter packs are ordered at Alpha Online. Physical shipments by the Post Office to all destinations in Canada and USA. Prices are listed in Canadian dollars. US $ cost is depends on the daily dollar exchange rate.

Secure Order Site  

eBooks are available from Persona Digital and can be delivered to many destinations on the planet.  We encourage international  customers to order eBooks rather than print books. The cost of shipping books is increasing. eBooks are low cost with no shipping charges. Payment is made thru PayPal. Downloads are available as soon as the order is paid.

The Adobe Portable Document Format  (PDF) is the standard for electronic document distribution worldwide. Adobe PDF preserves fonts, formatting, graphics, and colors in source documents. Adobe PDF files are compact and can be shared, viewed, and navigated  by anyone with free software. Most regular computer users already have Adobe's Reader installed and the reader is integrated into Microsoft's internet explorer. More on the Adobe Reader. 

Alpha Nutrition ® is a registered trademark and a division of  Environmed Research Inc., Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada. In business since 1984. Online since 1995.