good morning. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. welcome to the program. this week's show has remarkable stories that have really ip spird me. first up, this woem here, diana niyad, her mission is to make a world record swim at the age of 61. today she's going to make a big afounsment right here on this program. going to make it to us. don't miss that. plus christina applegate. first a breast cancer survivor.

now she's got a baby on the way. we sat down with her to find out what she thinks insurance companies are neglecting that could save your life and has already saved hers. want to hear that conversation. and 33 miners trapped, 33 rescued. ten weeks in a chilean mine. question for a lot of people, what are they going to face now? let's get started. diana niyad barely missed the olympic swim team in 1988, but she didn't give up. she took on a new challenge, which is long distance swimming. in 1978, we attempted the longest ocean swim, 103 miles. bad weather forced her to quit after swimming nearly 32 hours. she got right back in the water, and to this day she holds the record for the longest ocean swim without a shark cage, 102.5

miles. now at 61 years old, she's still at it. train to go go back, break her own record, and swim the 103 miles from cuba to key west. i'm so delighted you're here. i meet people in my life that really inspire me. and i've told you this before, i'm not going to embarrass you again. you're really an inspiring person. i'm glad you're here. >> thank you, sanjay. >> it's been a little time since i saw you last. you've got big announcements to make. >> i do. the big progression is, as you said, it had been some time since the days of my 20s. hadn't swum for 30 years. last year got an inspiration turning 60, decided to train for cuba, the mystique of cuba was still in my heart. and trained for a year, got ready, got really ready. was walking around in august like i could walk through brick walls. knew i could do it. and government permissions, winds come frg the wrong direction, lowering sea temperatures. it's been a feeling of helplessness, and i've been, you know, up against a wall against it. and so now we've had to postpone

it all the way to next summer. it feels like an eternity right this minute. i know it will seem like a short time. >> so next summer for sure? >> for sure, july. >> you mentioned the winds, the temperature of the water. what ultimately made it now? >> it's the water temperatures. people at home say mid-80s is like a bath. it's 77 right now way off key west. way too cold. i'm into hypothermia. i was doing four hour swims, and i was in shivers by the end of four hours. what are you going to do at 60 hours? the mind can overcome a lot, as you know. if there are rough seas, i can say, i don't like it, but i'm strong. i'm going to make it through. the hours could go longer. we say 60 hours, if my trainer comes and says, i'm sorry, diana. we recalculated. it's going to be 80 hours. i'm tough. i'll go. but i can't pretend the water isn't cold. i can't get over it mentally. >> but what is it that the whole mental toughness, though. you know, you said this to me before. anybody can sort of prepare for this sort of thing, but there is

a mental toughness that you have that's different. let me ask a simple question. what are you thinking about even when you're swimming for that long? >> well, you know, it ranges. you know, you go into really sort of deep existential, philosophical thoughts, you really do, about life and the meaning of life, and what you're doing with your life and the mystery of the universe. then you're swimming along singing bob dylan songs. beat by beat, just to get through the hours. and i think that the high of it, though, has sort of a life metaphor, is the commitment. if i say, i'm going to go from this shore to that shore and i don't care what happens in between. i'm going to stay in there. i don't care if i cry and scream with pain, i will stay in. i'll tell you the truth. the having to break down this crew right now and wait until next summer because of the helplessness of waiting for the weather to change has been much more difficult. >> i bet. >> much more difficult than the whole training. >> they're part of your family.

one thing that comes up a lot, and i want you to take a look at this with me. you don't swim with a shark cage. this is a big concern. take a look at this video. what you're going to see is they're actually going to chum the water and see what happens with the sharks. no surprise here. that's a chummed line. sharks going right after it. >> yeah. they're taking the bait. okay. >> now they're going to basically use a sort of electrical probe. they're going to electrically charge an area around this chum and see what happens. same chum, electrical line. sharks aren't getting anywhere near it. >> oh, i love this video. >> you have not seen this video before? >> i have not seen it. >> this is important, diana, because this is the type of technology that could protect you. what do you feel when you look at this? >> i'm pretty sure what they use for this. i don't know if it's the exact electricity we use. it's called the shark shield. divers use it to go under. they wrap it around their arms. there's a kayak next to me, and they literally duct tape this long antenna on the bottom of

it. it sends out an electrical field of electricity. that's the first time i've seen that video. >> we wanted to show new person. this is a great thing that's obviously necessary to try to keep you safe. we wish you the best of luck. we'll be there with you next summer when it happens for sure. a walking inspiration. also, an embryonic stem cell study under way right now. first time ever in a human, embryonic stem cells used to treat spinal cord injuries. we'll tell you all about it. and an important moment this week when the very first miner stepped out of that rescue capsule. incredible story. cheers, whistles, a long awaited embrace. these are love stories, a story of success. stay with ugs. fiber one chewy bar. how'd you do that? do what? it tastes too good to be fiber. you made it taste like chocolate. it has 35% of your daily value of fiber. do it again.

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for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. see if america's most prescribed ed treatment is right for you. we are back. the chilean mine rescue was historical. it was emotional. it was simply hard to turn away your eyes from scenes like this. 33 men pulled to the surface one by one. so many people around the world

pleasantly surpriseded they were smiling, these men. they had no life-threatening conditions. they spent more than two months in the conditions that the human body just isn't designed for. it's really hot. it's really humid. it was the overall planning of the rescue and the types of food and medications and hydration these men have been given that made the whole process so successful. it is likely that the focus is going to be on their psychological condition in the weeks to come. they think it's important to provide updates on exactly how they've been doing. we've been with the story for a long time. we're not going anywhere. we're going to stay on it. also, another historic moment. 12 years after the first human embryonic stem cells were isolated. the first person has been injected with a product that was derived from human embryonic stem cells. think about that. just this week, the company is not revealing a lot about the patient. he or she was thought to have been paralyzed less than two weeks to qualify for the experimental therapy. the hope is that the cells will

repair the damage that's causing the paralysis, like many animal studies have already shown. this is amazing stuff. the trial is to determine whether or not this therapy is, in fact, safe for humans. you can bet we're going to stay on that story as well. another medical story that made headlines this week. we know there is a spiraling problem with prescription drug abuse. emergency room visits linked to painkillers like oxycontin have more than doubled just since 2004. now there's a new treatment. just this week, the food and drug administration gave its blessing to a medication called vivitrol. it's actually a new form of an older drug, but there's reason to think it's going to work much, much better. we wanted to get a better sense of how it's going to work. take a look. t.j. voler grew up around cars. it's a family business. >> convertible, 380 stroke, small block. >> 36 years ago his life went off the road. at age 23, he got hooked on

painkillers. >> i went from being on a fast track to being on no track whatsoever. >> it all slipped away. vollor sold the cars one by one for pennies on the dollar. then his father died, and voller hit rock bottom. all he could think about was the drugs. >> that's the worst thing. you get these mind crippling cravings, and your mind becomes solely focused on that next fix. >> it's not that he didn't try. he was in and out of detox programs ten times. nothing worked. until one doctor tried something new. a monthly shot that blocks the effect of narcotics on voller's brain. and with that, blocks his desperate desire to get high. >> i said, i'll try anything. i'll give it a 30-day shot. if it works for 30 days, we'll go from there. i really was skeptical. but within the first day of getting my injection, the cravings literally went away. they're nonexistent. >> the drug is called vivitrol.

it's already being used to treat alcoholics. existing treatments for narcotics addiction involve a daily pill. doctors say that's a big problem. >> the majority of narcotics addicts will simply stop taking the drug and bail out of treatment and decide to go another way. >> but vivitrol is a monthly shot. vollor says that's a huge difference. >> i wasn't in a place where i could take a medication once daily on my own. the nice part about the vivitrol is i get an injection once a month, and i don't have to worry about it. >> today voller is back in school. he's also back at work and back in the garage. >> it was four years ago today my dad passed. my dad would be proud of me that i'm doing something with my life today. >> it's not a cure-all. it's a combination of therapy and counseling. now that the fda has approved it exclusively for narcotics addiction, insurance companies are more likely to pay, and this could become more widely used.

up next, christina applegate. you may remember her from the long-running series "married with children." she sat down and spoke candidly with me about her fight with breast cancer.

we are back with christina applegate. emmy award-winning actress. she's a cancer survivor and a mother to be. she's speaking out how she detected the family disease of breast cancer. applegate was diligent about getting screened. she was getting mammograms starting at age 30. but that wasn't the test, she believes, saved her life. >> i was 36 when the doctor i was getting mammograms from, and he said, it's time we started doing mris because of the density and the inability to see what's going on. luckily for me, he did do that because they found on the mri the calcifications which then through the biopsy found that it was cancer. >> so you were very proactive. you moved on this quickly? >> no, no, no. i know how fast -- to know in three months this appeared on a

test, this is for me not something that you wait. i mean, i think -- i think it's irresponsible for me to say to just go with the first doctors that you hear about. it's irresponsible for me to say that. i need it now, but i think it's important to research who you're dealing with. >> in the past, you had decided not to get the genetic testing, but you decided to get it at this point now. >> i did. my oncologist mcandrew had said, i think it's really beneficial for you. looking at the history and your family, i think you really should know. it might change how you look at all of this. she was really pushing for doing a mastectomy at that time. but when i got the test back that i was positive for the brca1 mutation, we had to sit down and have that conversation. and i was really resistant. i was so resistant, the idea of

mastectomy. i thought this is ridiculous. i'm not doing that. just having watched my mom go through that for all these years and what it did to her mentally, having a part of her not being the same anymore. i just thought, i don't want to do that. you know, i just -- i can't. then i looked at these statistics, i did my own research on it. who knows? we don't know really what's going on there, but just to see sort of the reoccurrence rate is so high, and i just couldn't sit with that for me. >> what you're describing is something that's happening right now somewhere in america. a woman is going through what you just described, making this really tough decision. and you didn't want to have a mastectomy at all. but after all the data came back and you looked at it all and talked to your doctor, you decided a double mastectomy was the best thing to do. >> for me. you know, i know i've gotten some criticism, i'm sure, from people who have said what i've done was way too radical.

but i just looked at my family, and i just thought, this is the smartest thing for me to do. this is my best chance of not having to deal with this, with breast cancer ever again for as long as i live. and that's what i just knew and had to do for myself. >> any regrets about the operation? do you ever look back and say, well, maybe it was -- i acted hastily or too quickly or anything?

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any regrets about the operation? do you ever look back and say maybe it was, i acted hastily or too quickly or anything? >> when my head goes into vanity sometimes i go, darn it, i miss those gals, but then it's closely followed by this is about your life and, you know, what's the sacrifice of that for being able to watch this one grow up and have children of their own and you know, i mean that's what's really important to me. >> did your doctors and you have a conversation? because you are a woman of child bearing age. it's one of the things that doctors always ask. i think i mentioned i have three kids. it's amazing that there's a push it seems for women to nurse. obviously children, you know, can drink formula. there's a lot of ways to get nutrition. >> yes. >> was that part of the conversation at all? >> no. you know what? if you ask any of our parents from my generation, they didn't nurse. i mean, for maybe a week i think

we all turned out pretty okay. >> yes, yes. i respect the new thought form that you must do this but you look at a generation ago and they were quickly onto something else. i think that it will be okay. >> i think it was two or three weeks and my mom was back to work. >> was it two or three? my mom was maybe a month she said. i don't really remember nursing you at all. there you go. we're very bonded. she's the closest person i have to me in my life. >> one of the things i hear all the time as a doctor is that you doctors order too many tests. you're ordering tests for everything. and this has been part of the reason there's been a hesitation or a slow to sort of act as far as ordering more mris for breast cancer. what do you say to people who say we're a culture of overtesting as it is. >> i can't stress enough it saved my life.

there was no ifs, ands or buts about it. i had a mammogram and there was nothing on it. this found it at a stage where it was curable instead of at a stage that it was not. unfortunately a lot of the screenings are expensive, a lot of insurance companies don't cover mri screenings which is why i started my foundation. it upset me so much that these women were opting to not have this really valuable screening because of money and because we're not taking care of these women who are high risk. that's one of the things that really got me when i was going through all of this. >> should insurance companies be hearing what you have to say? ultimately -- >> absolutely this should be a part of it. you know, i mean, we, you know mris should be be in tandem with mammography. that's just what i truly believe, but until then with right action for women, we're going to provide financial aid to these women. >> thanks so much for sharing your story. >> yeah, thanks. >> i think this is really important. i was really excited to speak with you.

i think the jury is still out a little bit, as you know, on exactly how it will play out with screening. when people like you speak and you hear that an mri saved your life, they are expensive, but maybe time for them to be cheaper and more widely available. >> yes, that would be nice. i love what my foundation is about to do but if they could make it so we don't have to work so hard that would be -- >> put you out of business. >> i would love that. i would love nothing more than to have all of the breast cancer organizations to have to close their doors because we don't have to have this as a part of our vernacular anymore. it's a dream. >> that's well said. thanks christina, appreciate it. she is so smart and committed and compassionate on this. her foundation is providing funding so women at high risk of breast cancer can afford to get mri and genetic testing if needed. find out how to apply and make a donation if you want at rightactionforwomen.org. good luck with the baby, christina.

will eating carrots improve your eyesight? so many people say this. find out if it's true or not. we'll tell you. the answer might surprise you. "ask the doctor" that's next. [ male announcer ] for fastidious librarian emily skinner,

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welcome back. it's time to answer your questions. favorite part of the show for me. here is one from anna beth in dayton, ohio. who asks this -- are carrots actually good for your eyes or is that just a mom's tale? great question. there's something to keep in mind. carrots are rich in beta-carotene. that's what you got to remember. it helps maintain your strong eyesight, but if your eyes weren't 20/20 to begin with, eating carrots won't help correct your vision. something happens in your eyes

especially around age 50. people start to notice a decline in their eyesight. in fact, nearly 10 million americans experience something known as mac collar degeneration, you're sort of looking at it here in this animation, when the tissue surrounding the retina deteriorates and that causes a blurry spot that people have smack dab sometimes in the center of their vision. interestingly, experts have pinpointed certain foods rich in omega3's that could reduce inflammation in the eye and keep arteries and blood vessels healthy. basically the way to think about it, the same thing that protects the eye also protects your heart. when you think about your foods, you want to do both. in fact a study out just last year showed some specific numbers on mac collar degeneration in your diet. eating fish once a week, reduces your risk of mac collar degeneration by 31. other foods, two