Contact: Mellanie True Hills at 940-466-9898 or http://www.stopafib.org

Dallas, TX, May 26, 2011 — After having a close call with a stroke from her atrial fibrillation (afib), the most common irregular heartbeat, Mellanie True Hills focused the patient advocacy organization she founded, StopAfib.org, on raising awareness of atrial fibrillation to avert a stroke crisis. For Stroke Awareness Month (May), the afib and stroke awareness activities in which StopAfib.org has participated include:

• Facing AFib, a partnership in which award-winning Actress Susan Lucci and her husband Helmut Huber launched a pledge to educate about atrial fibrillation and stroke
• Team AFib, a new coalition to advocate for atrial fibrillation patients, which was launched during Stroke Awareness Month
• Action for Stroke Prevention, a group of leading experts that launched the "How Can We Avoid a Stroke Crisis in the Asia Pacific Region" report calling for urgent coordinated action throughout the region to avoid an atrial fibrillation stroke crisis
• Bridging the Afib Communications Gap, a summary of the speech Mellanie True Hills presented to doctors and other clinicians at the Fourth Annual Western Atrial Fibrillation Symposium, was published in EP Lab Digest in time for Stroke Month
• A video of a presentation by Mellanie True Hills about living with atrial fibrillation, which was presented at the launch of the Silver Book: Thrombosis that was sponsored by the Alliance for Aging Research, was available for Stroke Month
• A live chat on June 13 for atrial fibrillation patients and afib caregivers will feature three Cleveland Clinic atrial fibrillation experts, Dr. Bruce Lindsay, Dr. Marc Gillinov, and Dr. David Van Wagoner, who will be joined by StopAfib.org founder Mellanie True Hills

Finally, in celebration of a successful Stroke Awareness Month, StopAfib.org made the following announcement: "StopAfib.org, a patient advocacy organization for those living with the most common irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation, is very pleased to announce the addition of four top afib experts to our Global Medical Advisory Board," says Mellanie True Hills, StopAfib.org founder and CEO. "The board is made up of some of the world's foremost electrophysiologists, cardiologists, surgeons, neurologists, epidemiologists, and researchers, who help us to provide the latest information about atrial fibrillation treatments to afib patients and their families."

New members named to the StopAfib.org Medical Advisory Board are:

• Hugh Calkins, MD, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
• Pierre Jais, MD, Universitaire de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
• Prof. Prashanthan Sanders, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia
• Albert L. Waldo, MD, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

For the complete list of members, see the StopAfib.org Global Medical Advisory Board

About StopAfib.org

StopAfib.org was founded in 2007 to improve the quality of life for those living with atrial fibrillation and to save lives by raising awareness of afib and decreasing afib-related strokes. HON Code Certified StopAfib.org is for patients by patients, and is the most visited arrhythmia site.

The site features the latest afib news and videos along with information about atrial fibrillation and stroke symptoms, causes, risks, and treatment. The Atrial Fibrillation Services Locator helps atrial fibrillation patients find hospitals, atrial fibrillation centers, electrophysiologists, and surgeons that specialize in treating afib. StopAfib.org also features atrial fibrillation patient resources, a newsletter, the Atrial Fibrillation Blog, the StopAfib Discussion Forum and Community, and the StopAfib YouTube Channel that brings top afib doctors to patients.

For more information, visit www.StopAfib.org or contact Mellanie True Hills at 940-466-9898 or www.stopafib.org/contact.cfm

About Mellanie True Hills

Mellanie True Hills is a heart health expert, speaker, and CEO of StopAfib.org. She is the author of the award-winning book, A Woman's Guide to Saving Her Own Life: The HEART Program for Health and Longevity. In 2003, she had a brush with death in emergency heart surgery followed seven months later by a near-stroke from atrial fibrillation. Hills and StopAfib.org have been featured by USA Weekend, More, Success, FOXBusiness.com, Better Homes & Gardens, Heart-Healthy Living, Newsweek, and others.

Learn about Mellanie's afib experience

For more information, visit http://www.StopAfib.org or contact Mellanie True Hills at 940-466-9898 or http://www.StopAfib.org/contact.cfm