By The Survivors Club Staff
November 19, 2009

The Survivors Club is receiving a lot of head-scratching emails about stunning health recommendations from a government-appointed panel that is urging major changes in breast cancer screening in the US.

In newly revised guidelines, the panel -- called the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) -- recommends against routine mammography screening for most women in their 40s.  The panel also recommends that women 50 to 74 should have mammograms every two years instead of every year. Routine screening is not recommended for women older than 74.

In addition, the panel recommends against breast self-exams based on findings from two large studies showing the practice to have no value.

The reaction to the new guidelines has been loud and confusing.  Dr. David Dershaw, director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, told TIME magazine: "I am appalled and horrified. There is no doubt that mammography screening in women in their 40s saves lives. To recommend that women abandon that is absolutely horrifying to me."

Even Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted today there's "a great deal of confusion" about the new recommendations.

"My message to women is simple. Mammograms have always been an important life-saving tool in the fight against breast cancer, and they still are today," Sebelius said in a statement.

"Keep doing what you have been doing for years -- talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions and make the decision that is right for you."

So? What should you do?

By The Survivors Club Staff
November 16, 2009

The Survivors Club story of the day?  Police say a South African woman has survived after carjackers threw her off a nearly 200-foot -tall bridge.

No arrests have been made although four suspects were questioned and released.

Kavisha Seevnarain was carjacked and then forced at gunpoint to go to ATMs to take out money, according to the South African Press Assocation.  The 26-year-old was thrown off a bridge south of Durban early Saturday.

SAPA reports the woman suffered seven broken ribs and a fractured pelvis from the fall and was spotted by a passer-by.

South Africa has one of the world's highest rates of violent crime and is struggling to control it before next year's World Cup, when about 500,000 visitors are expected.

By Ben Sherwood
The Survivors Club
Friday, November 13, 2009

Today is Friday the 13th. It's okay to admit this date gives you a twinge of anxiety. Bad things happen on Friday the 13th, right? As many as 21 million Americans will change their behavior today because of superstition. They won't go to the mall. They won't set foot on airplanes. Why? It's called paraskevidekatriaphobia: a morbid or irrational fear of Friday the 13th. An entire horror film category is based on this date. Part XII - yes, #12 - in the eponymous movie series was released last month, opening #1 at the box office. The cost of all this fear is estimated around $750 million per day in lost business.

So, what's the truth? Does Friday the 13th bring bad luck? Is this date hazardous to your health? I've spent the last few years studying who lives and dies in all kinds of everyday situations and crises. Along the way, I bumped into the fascinating science of superstition and Friday the 13th. It turns out there's some good news, some bad news and one thing you can definitely do to improve your chances if you're afraid of black cats.

By The Survivors Club Staff
November 10, 2009

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has joined the Survivors Club.  In an interview this week, the former UCLA and Lakers star revealed that he has a rare form of leukemia called Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a disease of the blood and bone marrow that produces cancerous blood cells.

The cancer was diagnosed in December, the 62-year-old Hall of Famer said, and can be controlled with daily medicine, consulting a cancer specialist every other month and getting regular blood tests.

Acknowledging he was frightened at first, Jabbar said he expects to lead a healthy life.

Last year, the American Cancer Society estimated there were around 4,830 new cases of CML and about 450 deaths from the disease. CML affects mostly adults and is rarely seen in children. The average age of people with CML is around 67 years and an average person's lifetime risk of getting CML is less than 1 in 500, according to the ACS.

Because of dramatic improvements in treatment over the past several years, most people with CML are now living at least 5 years after their cancer is found. The drugs used to treat CML today are still fairly new, and the average survival of people now being treated for CML is not known.

 

By Ben Sherwood
The Survivors Club
Updated: November 16, 2009

The tall woman with dyed reddish blond hair coughed loudly without covering her mouth. The shorter woman with a slicked-back bun wasn't happy about it. They were riding the southbound D train near Rockefeller Center during rush hour this week, and the uncovered cough quickly turned into an argument. "You need to cover your mouth," bun-woman reportedly said. "I don't want swine flu."

The war of words flared, according to a reporter for The Business Insider (who witnessed the altercation). Eventually, coughing-woman spit on bun-woman. Then there was a punch. In the end, coughing-woman tried to get off the train at 42nd Street, but bun-woman pulled her down to the ground by the hair.

"I could have decked her too," said a male witness. "That swine flu is treacherous." ^**

No kidding. If more people were aware of the science of single sneeze (or cough), there would be a lot more fistfights around the world.

Indeed, one single sneeze propels 100,000 droplets into the air at around 90 mph, landing on subway strap handles, door knobs, ATM keypads, elevator buttons, escalator railings, and grocery carts.

In a subway station at rush hour, just one sneeze (spray + residue) can end up touching as many as 10 percent of all commuters, according to British researchers. That means as many as 150 commuters can be sickened by one uncovered sternutation.

In addition to the best protection of all (getting the H1N1 vaccine whenever supplies become available), what can you do to protect yourself?

"No single action will provide complete protection," the CDC notes, but taking a few steps can help reduce the likelihood of transmission of swine flu (or many other infections).

1. Sanitize -- i.e. Wash Your Hands Frequently. It may sound obvious, but hand-washing with soap and water for around 20 seconds is the single best thing you can do (if you're going to go out into the world and interact with other human beings). The CDC estimates that 80 percent of all infections are spread by hands. If you can't wash your hands regularly, try hand-sanitizers with 60 percent alcohol content.

2. Avoid -- i.e. Engage in "Social Distancing." That's the fancy term for reducing unnecessary social contact, staying away from crowds, and avoiding people if you're sick or if you're concerned that they may be infected. It may not be especially practical when you have to go to, say, work, but experts believe it's worth repeating: Isolation and avoidance reduce your chances of getting infected or infecting others.

(Researchers in the UK -- mentioned above and sponsored by a cold remedy company -- found that 99 percent of commuters suffer at least one cold per winter. By contrast, 58 percent of people who work from home and 88 percent of those who walk to work caught a cold last winter).

If you need to go someplace crowded, the CDC says, try to spend as little time as possible and try to stay six feet away from potentially infected people.

3. Masks may help, but they aren't foolproof.

When used correctly, face masks may reduce the risk of getting infected or infecting other people, according to the CDC. But "no studies have definitively shown that mask use by either infectious patients or health-care personnel prevents influenza transmission."

When you see a surgeon wearing a mask, the purpose is to keep germs in so you she doesn't infect her patient. So-called N95 respirators are thicker, tighter-fitting, more expensive masks that keep out around 95 percent of all viruses.

However, a recent Canadian study found almost no difference in infection rates between health care workers who wore regular surgical masks vs. N95 respirators. Around 23 percent ended up sick, regardless of the protection.

According to WebMD, "one study shows that when there's a sick family member in the house, other family members could cut their risk of getting sick by 60% to 80% by using face masks consistently and correctly -- in combination with frequent hand washing and avoiding close contact with the sick person."

4. Be Alert -- i.e. Recognize the Symptoms and Get Help.

Swine flu symptoms are similar to regular flu: Fever, body aches, sore throat, cough, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. If you don't feel well, seek medical attention immediately.

It may not sound like much, but the best defense against the swine flu (and fist fights in subways) involves some very simple steps: Every sneeze should be covered -- preferably with the crook of an arm -- and every hand should be washed ... and washed again.

^**** What happened to the reporter who witnessed the smackdown on the subway? "Well, I seem to have confirmed the central premise of the attack," he writes.

"How? I now have the flu."

-----------

For more information about surviving the swine flu, please go to TheSurvivorsClub Website.

Or call the CDC's toll-free hotline: 1-800-CDC-INFO. Or check out the CDC Website.

For more questions and answers about swine flu prevention, visit Parentsask.com.

By Ben Sherwood
The Survivors Club
November 3, 2009

As the nurse poked the needle into my son's thigh, I expected to feel some kind of fear or worry. After all, I had heard alarm bells about the new swine flu vaccine. Supposedly, it hasn't been properly tested. It doesn't really work. It contains mercury. And there's a video on YouTube of a person paralyzed by the flu vaccine.

And yet, when the nurse was done, I felt genuine relief. The flu is on a rampage in 48 states, the CDC says, and the death toll is going up. Around the world, health officials are spotting devastating H1N1 outbreaks in countries like Ukraine where 71 people have died so far.

It may sound like hyperbole but there's a microscopic serial killer on the loose around the world. In the US alone, H1N1 has stolen the lives of 114 children so far. It's already in our neighborhood of Los Angeles. And it's just getting started with peak killing season expected in the colder months ahead.

So what can we do? What should we do? For adults, it just takes one swine flu shot to get protection. For kids, it takes two doses, according to the CDC. In a few seconds the other day, my five-year old was half-way there.

By The Survivors Club Staff
Updated October 25, 2009

President Barack Obama has declared the H1N1 swine flu outbreak a national emergency.  The move allows health officials to bypass some federal regulations and paperwork as they take measures to combat the outbreak and deliver scarce vaccine supplies across the country.

More than 1,000 people have died from so-called flu in the US, including nearly 100 children, and 20,000 have been treated in hospital. Health authorities expect the figure to increase markedly as the regular flu season starts.

With so much fear and misinformation about the swine flu, here are the three things you need to know about the new H1N1 vaccine:

By The Survivors Club Staff
October 18, 2009

The Survivors Club scours the world in search of the most remarkable, enlightening, inspiring survival stories.

Once in a while, we come across a story that stuns us in its power and profundity. 

Today, we heartily recommend David' Rodhe's story in The New York Times of surviving seven months and 10 days after being kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The article is the first of seven parts detailing Rohde's experience as Taliban hostage.  Despite being threatened with machine guns and beheading, Rohde managed to keep his wits.  "I told myself we would survive," he told himself.

Here's a video of Rohde recounting his harrowing ordeal in the remote tribal areas of Pakistan where Osama Bin Ladin is believed to be hiding.

By The Survivors Club Team
October 13, 2009

A husband and wife in Ohio are proof that breast cancer can strike both sexes.  Barbara and Mike Welsh of Monroe, Ohio, each underwent surgery this year after separate diagnoses with a disease that will afflict 192,000 women this year and 1,900 men.

Barbara Welsh, 63, had surgery in January, went through chemotherapy and is starting radiation treatments, according to the Associated Press.

After surgery in July, her 62-year-old husband is determining the next step in his recovery, which may include chemotherapy and radiation.

Mike Welsh iwants other men to know that breast cancer can strike them too.

"If I could help 10 people or 100, that's a start," Welsh, a retired AK Steel bricklayer, told the AP.

By The Survivors Club Staff
October 9, 2010

The quality of your health care depends largely on where you live, according to a new national scorecard from the Commonwealth Fund.  Insurance coverage, access to preventive medicine and disease treatment vary widely from state to state.

"Where you live matters," said the foundation's Vice President Cathy Schoen, who co-authored the study for the private research group.  "And it shouldn't."

Where is the best health care in the US? And where does your state rank?