Feature -
A
matter of life and death
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Hilary Spronken is the latest contributor to
Rivieralife.tv. She is a writer and
consultant. She has specialised in the impact of
European Union legislation on member state
businesses. Following two years as a news
journalist on Riviera Radio, Hilary gave up her
career to bring up her two children. She lives
in Castellar, and is an active fund raiser for
the Telethon and a committee member of the
village education and cultural association. This
year she has been invited to help organise the
second International Mandolin Festival of
Castellar with responsibility for marketing and
international press relations.
RLTV 16 Jul 10. |
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Imagine that you are walking down the
street. Perhaps you’re thinking about a meeting you’ve
had or what you’re going to have for lunch. Suddenly
someone collapses in front of you. Could you save this
person’s life? Would it make a difference to his chances
of survival if he collapsed in Seattle or
Nice? According to Dr Philippe Ricard, a cardiologist at
the Centre Hospitalier Princess Grace in Monaco, the
answer to both these questions is « yes ».
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Dr Ricard, has just published
a book, « Au Coeur de la Vie » in which he
argues that thousands of lives could be saved
each year by any one of us if only we were
prepared to spend a couple of hours a year
learning now. I recently went along to Monaco to
talk to him. |
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He explained to me that
cardiovascular disease is the main cause of
death in industrialised nations, killing more
people than all types of cancers put together,
and accounting for almost 50% of all
deaths. Although it is the number one killer, it
is not ‘fashionable’ in the same way as other
diseases like cancer and AIDs, and despite the
fact that progress in treatments has saved
literally hundreds of thousands of lives over
the past twenty years, it gets little media
coverage. Moreover, 50% of cardiovascular deaths
are as a result of « sudden death », and
according to Dr Ricard, many of these deaths
are needless deaths which could be prevented by
rapid intervention. |
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Sudden death is usually due
to ventricular fibrillation, an arrhythmia of
the heart where it beats so fast it is no longer
able to pump blood effectively to the vital
organs including the brain. From the moment the
arrhythmia starts, the victim is literally
minutes away from brain damage and then death. |
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So what do you do? Most people just
stand and watch, or turn the victim on his side or try
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Dr Ricard told me that the
only three gestures that could save his life are: phone
emergency services; start immediate heart massage;
defibrillate. My answer to that is that most people
would have no idea how to do the last two; which brings
us back to Seattle or Nice. In many US cities there are
wide ranging programmes to teach people how to do heart
massage and how to use a defibrillator, a hand held
device which delivers an electric shock to the heart.
Defibrillators are then installed in public places. This
is beginning to happen in some towns in Europe, but the
education on use is lacking. The result of this is that
if you collapse with arrhythmia in Seattle you have a
30% chance of survival whereas in France the chance is
2%. Dr Ricard would like to see the basic techniques
taught in schools, and given that it only needs a couple
of hours and annual refresher courses, it’s hard to
argue against it. |
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« Au Coeur de la Vie » is not just
about sudden death. As Dr Ricard explained to me, it
also aims to inform people who already have heart
disease how to live longer and better. Using a mixture
of basic science, statistics and anecdotes, the first
part of the book provides a comprehensive overview of
the main types of cardiovascular disease, with a
discussion of treatments and medical research. The
second part is devoted to prevention, with detailed
sections on smoking, fats and cholesterol, high blood
pressure, and obesity and diabetes. For anyone with
heart or weight problems, this book is a way to change
your life and improve your French at the same time! |
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Dr Ricard is also the President
of L’Association Monégasque de Lutte contre la Mort
Subite. For further information contact:
www.mortsubitemonaco.org |
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« Au Coeur de la Vie », Dr Philippe
Ricard, Published by Robert Laffont, 20 Euros. |
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Check out Hilary's Blog here |
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Churches, Coaching and Cate
Mackenzie
- March
2011 |
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Estate agent at 53 – there really
is life after 50! - Dec 10 |
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Sheep, Condillion & Fred
the Donkey Man
- Sept 2010 |
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La Rentrée, strikes and special education for
disruptive students -
Sep 10 |
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In her
latest
RivieraLife.tv
Blog 'Notes from the Back Country', our very own 'hillbilly'
correspondent
Hilary Spronken
meets Life and Love Coach
Cate Mackenzie
(pic). Well known for her inspirational courses that help you set your
own personal goals and make the most of your life, Cate will be bringing
her fun workshops to the Cote d'azur. Hilary overcomes her own
prejudices about anything religious or self-developmental when she
encounters Cate's irresistable personality. |
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Almost
two months ago Lorgues resident Sally Perigo discovered that an old
limestone quarry, literally on her doorstep was to be reactivated and
started investigating.
Local
residents, ave been fighting a campaign to get the project
cancelled. 22nd July they demonstrated with a peaceful march up the
small country chemin, which the quarry company propose to use for 20 ton
lorries.
Anita Rieu-Sicart,
Editor of the Var Village Voice
reports for RivieraLife.tv. |
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Monaco based
beauty products company Daniele de Winter was launched in 2003.
With the launch of the 'deW InsideOut' beauty product range in
2006, the company enjoyed rapid growth from local niche skincare
company to a global beauty phenomenon. The company founder
InsideOut is a range of luxury beauty products based on solid
scientific research. In this
video clip
Daniele de Winter explains her life mission to turn science into
pleasure. |
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Masonry becomes official in Monaco
RLTV 15 Oct 10
Sources have revealed to RivieraLife.tv that
Monaco is to make official its first Masonic Lodge.
Up until two years ago Freemasonry in Monaco
has existed under the constitutions of other
countries. English, German and USA Lodges have
regularly held meetings in Monaco. For close on two
years the Palace of Monaco have been seeking to
regularise Masonry. After lengthy discussions with
French Masonry collapsed, whose controlling body is GLNF (Grand Lodge Nationale Francaise), as the
demands from the reigning Grand Master were
considered unreasonable, subsequent discussions with
UGLE (United Grand Lodge of England) took place and
have successfully concluded.
More details here.
Mark Dezzani. |
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