By The Survivors Club
August 19, 2009

Americans are living nearly three months longer... and that means life expectancy in the United States has reached an all time high, according to new information from the National Center for Health Statistics.

The good news is due largely to falling death rates from heart disease, cancer and HIV.  Average life expectancy for babies born in 2007 is nearly three months greater than for children born in 2006.  Over the past decade, life expectancy in the US has increased almost one and a half years.

Men and women are living longer, according to the new data, but women still outlast men by an average of five years.  (In 2007, average life expectancy was 80.4 years for women and 75.3 years for men).  Twenty years ago, the survival gap was much greater: Women outlived men by nearly eight years.

The USA still trails some 30 countries in life expectancy.  Japan has the longest life expectancy — 83 years for children born in 2007 -- according to the World Health Organization.

“The most noteworthy aspect about all this is not just that people are living longer but living better,” Dr. Gary Kennedy tells The New York Times.  Kennedy is director of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y.  “At the same time, people are living a longer active lifespan. Seniors are healthier, more active and economically better off than they ever have been.”

By The Survivors Club Staff
August 12, 2009

Don't worry, be happy!  And you'll live little longer.  That's the conclusion of a new study from the University of Pittsburgh published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers studied more than 97,000 women and found that glass half-fullers had a nine per cent lower risk of developing heart disease and a 14 per cent lower risk of dying from any cause after eight years of follow-up.

By The Survivors Club Staff
August 11, 2009

If you want to slash your risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke and cancer by as much as 78 percent, here are the four golden rules, according to an important new study.

- Engage in regular physical activity (at least 3.5 hours per week)
- Eat a healthy diet (lots of fruits, vegetables, and grains and not much red meat)
- Don't smoke
- Avoid becoming obese (body mass index below 30)

By The Survivors Club Staff
August 10, 2009

A tiny premature baby declared dead by doctors was discovered to be alive at his own funeral wake when he began to cry in his own makeshift coffin.

The tot, born 16 weeks early, was placed in a cardboard box and handed over to his devastated parents after hospital staff tried to revive him.  Jose Alvarenga, his father, was saying goodbye to the infant when he suddenly began to cry.

By The Survivors Club Staff
August 3, 2009

When the pilot says you should always keep your seat belt fastened, there's good reason. 

A Continental Airlines 767 with 179 people on board severe "clear-air" turbulence over the Atlantic early today, injuring at least 26 — including four seriously.  The plane made an emergency landing in Miami.

Continental Flight 128 from Brazil to Texas dropped without warning while flight attendants were working in the aisles.  Some unbuckled passengers and air crew were thrown against the roof.

The fasten seat belt sign was illuminated at the time, according to the airline.

Is turbulence dangerous? Can turbulence crash a plane?

By The Survivors Club Staff
July 31, 2009

Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut has announced that he has early stage prostate cancer and intends to have surgery early in August.

Dodd, who was first elected to the Senate in 1980, told the Hartford Courant he "feels fine" and will undergo surgery during Congress's recess next month. His aides described the procedure as routine and said he will be return to work a few weeks after the surgery.

"As you have probably noticed, I'm working some long and hard hours lately," he told the paper. "And that will continue."

Around 186,000 men join the Prostate Cancer Survivors Club every year in the United States.  What are the warning signs of prostate cancer? What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

By The Survivors Club Staff
August 7, 2009

A spike through the head.  A steel bar through the chest.  A man awakes from six years in a vegetative state.  A man walks after being chopped in half when he was run over by a truck.

At The Survivors Club, we see a lot of incredible tales of people overcoming extraordinary adversity. So which are the most amazing? What are the top 10 survival stories and medical miracles?

Here's a collection (with photographs) by Dr. Kristie McNealy of 10 amazing medical miracles.

Please send us your vote for favorite story at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

By The Survivors Club Staff
July 29, 2009

Got milk? Run, don't walk to the store...

Drinking milk every day can reduce your chances of dying from heart disease and stroke by as much as 20 percent, according to new research at three universities in Britain.

Recent research has questioned the health benefits of milk, especially because it contains saturated fat and sugars.  The new findings - based on 324 different studies -- found that the benefits of drinking milk far outweigh any dangers.

How much milk should you drink every day?

By The Survivors Club Staff
July 28, 2009

If you text while driving, you're 23 times more likely  to crash or get into a near-wreck, according to the first-ever study of distracted drivers. That means texting is three times more dangerous than driving at the legal drunk driving limit, which increases your risk of an accident by about 7 times.

Texting is especially risky because drivers take their eyes off the road for five seconds or more - more than the amount of time it takes to drive the length of a football field.

Meanwhile, researchers found that the simple act of dialing a cell phone increases the risk of collisions about six times.

What can you do to protect yourself?

By The Survivors Club Staff
July 27, 2009

Michelle St. Val and her son Mikyal and two passengers were driving to the airport on I-595 near Fort Lauderdale on Friday when their Chevy Impala was surrounded by a flash of light.  "My car lit up like Christmas," Michelle tells the Sun-Sentinel.  "It was a huge boom, and then lightning completely took over the car," she continues.  Glass shattered everywhere and her car drifted across three lanes of highway.

When the Chevy came to stop, everyone was terrified but unhurt.  According to the Sun-Sentinel, the highway patrol concluded that the lightning bolt hit the upper-left corner of the rear window - near Mikyal's head - and and exited on the other side blowing a hole in the back tire.

How often does this happen?

Already this month across the United States, eight people have died from lightning strikes.  On average, these lightning storms  kill around 70 people every year and injure more than 500. So far this year, 24 people have died from different types of lightning.  June, July and August are the most active and deadly months.  And Florida is the lightning capital of the United States.

Your chances are around one in 700,000 in any given year of being struck by a lightning bolt.  But don't be lulled into complacency by that statistic.  There are some 25 million cloud-to-ground strikes every year in the US.  Each is charged with around 300 million volts and a current of up to 200,000 amps.  That's enough electricity to power a 100-watt bulb for around two months.

Roughly 10 percent of lightning victims actually die while 90 percent suffer injuries that can range from mild shocks to permanent problems including chronic pain, hypersensitivity, memory lapses and impaired thinking and concentration skills, according to Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, the world's leading authority on lightning injuries and a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

TSC recommends this excellent article featuring lightning-strike survivors written by JoNel Allecia at MSNBC.com.

# # #

Top 10 Lightning Myths

1. MYTH: Lightning Never Strikes The Same Place Twice.

TRUTH: Lightning often strikes the same place repeatedly, especially if it’s a tall pointy isolated object. The EmpireState Building used to be used as a lightning laboratory, since it is hit nearly 25 times a year. Places prone to lightning are places to avoid when thunderstorms are nearby!

2. MYTH: If It’s Not Raining, Or If Clouds Aren’t Overhead, I’m Safe From Lightning.

TRUTH: Lightning often strikes more than three miles from the thunderstorm, far outside the rain or even thunderstorm cloud. ‘Bolts From The Blue’, though infrequent, can strike 10-15 Miles from the thunderstorm. Anvil lightning can strike the ground over 50 Miles from the thunderstorm, under extreme conditions. Lightning in clouds has traveled over 100 miles from the thunderstorm.

3. MYTH: Rubber Tires Protect You From Lightning In A Car By Insulating You From The Ground.

TRUTH: Lightning laughs at two inches of rubber! Most cars are reasonably safe from lightning. But it’s the metal roof and metal sides that protect you, not the rubber tires. Thus convertibles, motorcycles, bicycles, open helled outdoor recreational vehicles, and cars with plastic or fiberglass shells offer no lightning protection. Likewise, farm and construction vehicles with open cockpits offer no lightning protection. But closed cockpits ith metal roof and sides are safer than going outside. And don’t even ask about sneakers!

4. MYTH: A Lightning Victim Is Electrified. If You Touch Them, You’ll Be Electrocuted.

TRUTH: The human body doesn’t store electricity. It is perfectly safe to touch a lightning victim to give them first aid. This is the most chilling of lightning myths. Imagine someone dying needlessly, for want of simple CPR or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, when their chances of survival was ~90%!

5. MYTH: If Outside In A Thunderstorm, Go Under A Tree To Stay Dry.

TRUTH: Being underneath trees is the second leading activity for lightning casualties – enough said?!

6. MYTH: I’m In A House, I’m Safe From Lightning.

TRUTH: While a house is a good place for lightning safety, just going inside isn’t enough. You must avoid any conducting path leading outside, such as corded telephones, electrical appliances, wires, TV cables, plumbing (including plastic pipes with water in them), metal doors or window frames, etc. Don’t stand near a window to watch the lightning. An inside room is generally best.

7. MYTH: When Playing Sports And Thunderstorms Threaten, It’s Okay To Finish The Game Before Seeking Shelter.

TRUTH: Sports is the activity with the fastest rising rate of lightning casualties. No game is worth death or life-long severe injury. All people associated with sports should have a lightning safety plan and stick to it strictly. Seek proper shelter immediately when lightning threatens. Adults are responsible for the safety of children!

8. MYTH: Structures With Metal, Or Metal On The Body (Jewelry, Watches, Glasses, Backpacks, Etc.), Attract Lightning.

TRUTH: Height, pointy shape, and isolation are the dominant factors controlling where a lightning bolt will strike. The presence of metal makes virtually no difference on where lightning strikes. Mountains are made of stone, but receive many strikes each year. When lightning threatens, take proper protective action immediately. Don’t waste time shedding metal off your body, or seeking shelter under inadequate structures. But while metal doesn’t attract lightning, touching or being near long metal objects (fences, railings, bleachers, vehicles, etc.) is still unsafe when thunderstorms are nearby. If lightning does happen to hit it, the metal can conduct the electricity a long distance (even over 100 yards) and still electrocute you.

9. MYTH: If Trapped Outside And Lightning Is About To Strike, Lie Flat On The Ground.

TRUTH: This advice is decades out of date. Better advice is to use the ‘Lightning Crouch’: put your feet together, squat low, tuck your head, and cover your ears. Lightning induces electric currents along the top of the ground that can be deadly over 100 Feet away. While lying flat on the ground gets you as low as possible, which is good, it increases your chance of being hit by a ground current, which is bad. The best combination of being low and touching the ground as little as possible is the ‘Lightning Crouch’. But the ‘Lightning Crouch’ should be used only as a last resort. Much better would be to plan outdoor activities around the weather to avoid thunderstorm exposure and to have proper shelter available.

10. MYTH: Go near a tall pointy isolated object when thunderstorms threaten, to be within the 45° “cone of protection.”

TRUTH: The “cone of protection” is a myth! While tall pointy isolated objects are statistically more likely to be struck
by lightning, it’s not nearly reliable enough to rely on for safety. Lightning can still strike you near the tall
object. Besides, the lightning electricity will likely spread out along the surface of the ground and can still kill
you over 100 Ft from the “protecting” object. Also, if you are close to or touching the tall object, you can be
electrocuted via side flash or contact voltage. NO PLACE OUTSIDE IS SAFE NEAR A THUNDERSTORM!
In lightning safety, a “myth” is not as good as a mile. Distance and proper shelter is your best protection from lightning.

Source: NOAA