By The Survivors Club Staff
January 19, 2009

The news from Haiti gets worse - the unofficial death toll stands around 200,000.  The loss and suffering are mind-boggling.

In the midst of so much destruction, one small and unexpected meme has emerged.  As Michael Phillips and Joe Lauria write in The Wall Street Journal today, dozens of people have been saved by search and rescue teams.  They call it "one of the defining features of the Haitian quake: the remarkable number of people rescued from collapsed buildings."

"The search and rescue has been a fantastic success this time," Sir John Holmes, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told The Journal.  "They've pulled out more people than is normally the case."

 

By The Survivors Club Staff

January 14, 2009

 

The devastation is Haiti is unfathomable.  The death and loss are incomprehensible.  Amidst so much misery, it's only human to search for stories that offer faint hope or small comfort.

 

As international rescue teams began to land in Haiti, there are reports that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of survivors remain trapped under the rubble.

Searchers from the United States, Britain, China, France and Iceland will use specially trained sniffer dogs, special cameras and jackhammers as they focus first on collapsed schools, hotels and hospitals.

Danielle Trépanier of Doctors without Borders was buried for 24 hours in the basement of a home in Port-au-Prince.  When the earthquake struck, she was relaxing in her second story bedroom.  Within seconds, she had fallen through two floors into the basement, according to The Guardian of London.

Local workers risked their lives to pull her from the rubble, according to Doctors without Borders.  Trépanier was in shock but suffered only minor injuries.

 

Meanwhile, orphanages jammed with children reported making it through the quake without losing a single child, according to MSNBC.  And a missionary trapped for 10 hours in the ruins of her mission was reunited with her husband who drove hours to dig her out.  And a college student sent her parents a two-word text message: “I’m OK.”

The recipients of that text message were Joan and Steve Prudhomme of East Greenwich, R.I. Their daughter Julie had gone to Haiti with 11 other students and two faculty advisers from  Lynn University of Boca Raton, Fla., to work on an irrigation project for the mission group Food for the Poor.

“We read an e-mail last night stating one sentence: ‘I’m OK,’ ” Joan Prudhomme told NBC's Matt Lauer from the family’s home in Rhode Island. “And we were overjoyed.”

 

To help the people of Haiti, please consider contributing to the emergency relief organizations:

•The American Red Cross is pledging an initial $200,000 to assist communities impacted by this earthquake. They expect to provide immediate needs for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support. They are accepting donations through their International Response Fund.

•UNICEF has issued a statement that "Children are always the most vulnerable population in any natural disaster, and UNICEF is there for them." UNICEF requests donations for relief for children in Haiti via their Haiti Earthquake Fund. You can also call 1-800-4UNICEF.

•Donate through Wyclef Jean's foundation, Yele Haiti. Text "Yele" to 501501 and $5 will be charged to your phone bill and given to relief projects through the organization.

For more information on surviving earthquakes, please go to the Survivors Club Earthquake/Natural Disaster Support Center.

Read more about the five myths of earthquake survival.

 

 

By The Survivors Club Staff
January 13, 2009

Every thought and prayer from the Survivors Club goes out to the people of Haiti who are trying to survive the aftermath of the most devastating earthquake in more than 200 years.

An estimated 3 million people need emergency aid and assistance, officials say.  It's too soon to know how many people have lost their lives in the 7.0 quake but estimates range as high as 500,000.

By The Survivors Club Staff
January 12, 2009

Is your TV habit slowly killing you?

A new Australian study says beware of too much TV... or more accurately, too much time sitting in front of the tube.  Every extra hour you watch increases your risk of death by 11 percent, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association and its Circulation Website.

The study followed 8,800 adults with no history of heart problems and found that people who watch four hours or more were 80 percent more likely to die from heart disease and 46% more likely to die from any cause than people who watch under two hours a day.

Here's the astonishing statistic: Each additional hour spent in front of the TV increased the risk of dying from heart disease by 18 percent and the overall risk of death by 11 percent, according the study.

Television doesn't kill you, the study's lead author says.  It's the lack of physical activity because sitting is the "default position" for watching TV.

According to the A.C. Nielsen Company, the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV per week - or the equivalent of two months of nonstop TV watching per year.

“Prolonged watching of television equals a lot of sitting, which invariably means there’s an absence of muscle movement,” says Dr. David Dunstan of Melbourne's Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute.

The study also found that even people who exercise on a regular basis were potentially hurting their bodies by sitting down for prolonged periods. “What these findings suggest is that in addition to regular exercise, people need to consider avoiding prolonged periods of sitting; whether it's in front of the television, working long hours or driving for prolonged periods,” Dunstan said.

By The Survivors Club Staff
December 4, 2009

The Survivors Club is always on the hunt for surprising tips for overcoming everyday adversity.

If you worry about heart attacks, then you should definitely know about six of the most dangerous triggers for heart trouble. Dr. Arthur Agatson in Florida (author of the legendary South Beach Diet) has put together a great list for Prevention magazine:

 

By The Survivors Club Staff
December 3, 2009

So begins Holiday Season 2009...  The Survivors Club wants to take a moment to wish everyone a healthy, happy holiday season.

We also want to pose an interesting survival question raised by Forbes.com

What is the most dangerous American holiday? 

Did you guess New Years eve or day?

Guess again.

If you're looking for a 2009 Holiday Survival Guide, believe it or now, you should focus on Thanksgiving.

Indeed, the "most dangerous holiday" title belongs to Thanksgiving, according to Forbes.com.  "Last year, 502 people were killed on the road that day. On a typical day, 102 people die in traffic accidents," the magazine reports.  Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for AAA, tells Forbes.com that "the combined factors of more than 50% more drivers on the road and higher-than-usual alcohol consumption contribute to its danger."

"More vehicles create greater conflict potential," Sinclair says. "And unfortunately, during holiday times, celebratory actions, people drink and get out on the road, and that leads to a problem, too."

Christmas ranks #5 on the list of the most dangerous holidays. 

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.