Participants:
Series Code: UP
Program Code: UP000057A
|
00:16 Those who have experienced it, say that a heart attack
00:19 is like having an elephant sit down on your chest. 00:22 So today, we're going to do a little 00:24 elephant hunting. Stay tuned... 00:28 I'm Dr. James Marcum, are you interested 00:31 in discovering the reason why? 00:33 Do you want solutions to your healthcare problem? 00:36 Are you tired of taking medications? 00:39 Well, you're about to be given the "Ultimate Prescription." 00:45 They say that knowledge is power. 00:47 When it comes to coronary artery disease, 00:49 we need all the power we can get because the enemy is 00:52 strong, well-organized and sneaky. 00:56 Well today, we're going to learn how to be stronger, 00:58 more organized and a whole lot sneakier than heart disease. 01:02 Heart disease for most people, as Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn 01:05 of the Cleveland Clinic insists, 01:06 is a toothless tiger! 01:08 It's often an elephant filled with helium. 01:11 Dr. Marcum, on our last program, you shared with us how 01:14 you determine if someone is at risk for heart disease. 01:17 Now let's get down to the heart of the matter... 01:19 How do we fight back? 01:21 Charles, how do we fight back? 01:23 Well that's, I think part of how we fight back is watching 01:26 programs like this where we can learn more. Yes 01:29 We can figure out what a heart attack is, 01:32 and heart cardiovascular disease and do something 01:34 before it happens to us. 01:36 So that's one way we fight back and realize the system 01:39 is not always there to help us or protect us. 01:42 The "system" being what system? 01:43 Modern medical system. Okay, all right 01:46 You know the pills and all that. 01:47 That's inflammatory what you just said. 01:48 Yes, but at the same time, we have to realize there is 01:51 a place for it and in understanding health, 01:54 there's a place for modern medicine. 01:56 There's a place for good nutrition - we talked about 01:58 that and we talked also about our spiritual lives. 02:01 But today, we want to focus on ways as to what is the 02:04 appropriate use for modern medicine. 02:06 You know, what does it mean to have a stent or a bypass? 02:09 When is taking a pill correct? 02:12 You see that pill there, Charles? I see that pill, yeah. 02:13 That is a big pill... I would give that to an elephant. 02:17 That's an elephant's size pill. 02:19 You know, you said "the elephant in the room," YES 02:20 If he had a heart... he might need that 02:22 if he needed a pill. Yeah 02:23 But sometimes pills are not all that they might seem to be. 02:26 Uh oh, I have a sneaking suspicion that we have... 02:29 Oh my, there's something in there. 02:30 Sometimes there's things in pills that we like, 02:32 like that pen where we can write down 02:34 truths that we learn today. I like that. 02:36 But sometimes it has things that can cause us side effects, 02:39 so we want to minimize pills in that and yet if we need it, 02:44 we want to know the appropriate place to take it. 02:46 But if we're having a symptom, and we go see a doctor, 02:49 the doctor is going to give us the pill or a procedure 02:52 or they're going to cut us open and do something like that, 02:54 when do we know to go see the doctor and when do we know 02:58 to go look in the Bible and find out 03:00 how we should be living different. 03:01 Yeah, and that's what we're going to talk today, 03:03 and I think it's a very important question 03:06 that a lot of people don't know what's what. Yes 03:09 And unfortunately, many of the doctors out there 03:11 they're great people, but they work in their system 03:14 that doesn't sometimes promote balance. Okay 03:17 And that's why we're here to talk about that balance today, 03:20 but if you're having a symptom, modern medicine is great. 03:23 You know, if I'm having a heart attack, I want a stent! 03:26 If the elephant is sitting on the chest... Right 03:27 You want the elephant off the chest. Yeah 03:30 But there also things that we can do other than pills 03:34 that can help us not need those things. 03:36 And that's what we really try to focus on, 03:38 and even if you do need those things, 03:41 all the things we've talked about, you know the 03:43 preventive medicines, the mental - all that will 03:46 help treat and prevent these things from happening as well. 03:49 All right, so if you do not have an elephant sitting on your 03:51 chest right now, what you're about to hear 03:54 are the things that would be best for you 03:56 if you would just start doing 03:57 them right away if you don't have the elephant. 03:59 If the elephant is sitting there, 04:00 get to the doctor now, not later. 04:03 Do we have some questions that have come in? Yes we do. 04:05 heartwiseministries.org is where you send your 04:07 questions about these topics, and I'm so excited about 04:10 this because this is what people want to know. 04:12 First question-"How can I lower my risk of a heart attack?" 04:17 They haven't had the heart attack yet, 04:18 but they want to lower the risk of the heart attack 04:20 even though the family has a strong history of heart attacks. 04:25 Yeah, and I think that that is one of the best questions 04:28 a person can ask because they want to lower the risk 04:30 before something happens. Yes, yes 04:32 And remember, heart disease, heart attacks, 04:36 it's just not one thing, it involves all the vessels 04:39 of the body - it's just not one chemical reaction. 04:42 It involves everything and what is so neat about heart disease 04:45 is that you treat the heart, you treat every organ because 04:47 the heart carries blood and nutrients to every organ. 04:50 So the principles that we talk about in lowering the risk of 04:52 heart attack lowers the risk of having other 04:55 many conditions that we might have. 04:57 The first thing when a person comes to us... 04:59 "I have a strong family history..." 05:00 I start to talk to them... Are they eating foods 05:04 that will clog up their arteries? 05:05 So I really make sure that they have a good diet, 05:09 and what we try to move people to is - away from fats, 05:12 and more towards real food, plants. 05:15 I try to really work on them on their stress. 05:18 You know, some stress relationships, 05:20 their spiritual journey - how that's all going. 05:23 I make sure they drink enough water. 05:25 I also talk to them about... do they have blood pressure 05:28 that needs to be treated. 05:30 Is their cholesterol high right now? 05:32 And sometimes I use medicines as a bridge 05:34 until they can change their chemistry on their own. 05:37 We talk about things like diabetes; 05:40 the stress that comes from sleep apnea 05:42 when people don't breathe well at night. 05:44 Are they sedentary... just not moving 05:46 around puts stress on the body. 05:48 Are they spending too much time sitting down all day 05:51 which puts stress on the body. 05:53 Are they spending too much time with media or other things? 05:56 Are they doing things that help improve their stress 05:58 like serving people; are they resting well? 06:02 Are they doing all these things that they should be doing? 06:04 Are they being outside? 06:05 So a prescription for heart disease could be 06:07 volunteer at your local soup kitchen? Absolutely! 06:10 Absolutely Charles because when we serve other people, 06:13 that turns down our stress chemistry. Yes 06:15 So when we serve, that actually 06:17 lowers the risk of having a heart attack. 06:19 When we get back to the things that God gave us 06:21 at the very beginning and follow that template, 06:24 all of those things have beneficial chemical reactions. 06:27 So everything that's beneficial that lowers stress, 06:30 also is going to lower our risk of heart attack. 06:31 When you have love in your life, 06:33 it lowers your risk of heart attack. 06:35 When you have selfishness, 06:36 it raises the risk to give you a heart attack. 06:39 When God said to us, "Love one another as I have loved you," 06:43 He was giving us a prescription for heart disease. 06:46 Exactly... Wow! 06:47 When He says, "rest." When He says, "worship." 06:50 Now we're learning the physiology that all 06:52 of these things are things that can lower your risk 06:54 of not only a heart attack, but many other diseases 06:58 because this treats the entire 07:00 body not just one chemical pathway. 07:02 This lowers the risk of us having cancer; 07:05 lowers the risk of having inflammation; 07:07 lowers the risk of having infection. 07:08 So not only do we lower the risk of heart attacks 07:11 when we do these things, but we do ALL of these things. 07:14 But sometimes genetics do catch up with us, 07:17 and if a person does all these things, 07:19 they can still have a heart attack, but if they do, 07:22 we want to know exactly have a plan in action. 07:24 If I start having pains, I'm going to do this... 07:27 If I start having this, I'm going to do that... 07:29 But I'm hoping I never have this. 07:30 We also know that being very positive and being upbeat 07:34 and being very happy, that's also 07:37 very healing for our own body. 07:39 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." 07:41 What I'm discovering here, Dr. Marcum, 07:43 in talking with you and doing these programs is... 07:44 The deeper we get into the science of health, 07:48 the deeper we get into the modern 07:51 medical abilities and science. 07:53 When we're standing there surrounded by all this 07:56 technology and all this information, 07:58 we look back at the Bible and it says - that's what He meant, 08:02 that's why He said that. 08:04 That's why "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine," 08:05 why God gave us rest, why God gave us a diet to eat, 08:08 why God told us that we need to have 08:10 relationships that are based on love. 08:13 These are good for our health, 08:15 for our physical health and that's amazing. 08:17 So when we say, "biblical technology" 08:19 in this program, that's what we mean. 08:21 Modern science is saying, "Look, here's what makes you healthy," 08:24 and guess what... God had a plan for us to live 08:27 that way from the very beginning, that's exciting! 08:30 What excites me so much is our God loves us so much 08:33 He would never give us recommendations 08:35 that would hurt us. My my... 08:37 But there are so many counterfeits 08:38 out there and there's so many people... 08:40 And what's so neat about this is I've done health 08:42 programming for quite a long period of time now. 08:44 The themes... the themes to treat this disease 08:47 and the other diseases, the themes are pretty much the same. 08:51 Try to change your chemistry based on biblical technology; 08:55 use modern medicine when you're having symptoms; 08:58 and don't get discouraged, even if you have things 09:00 that cannot be fixed, stay strong in that hope 09:03 you have in that relationship because that's what's 09:06 going to heal us eventually in His time. 09:08 And as we fall back on these things, just knowing this, 09:11 and knowing that we have hope, that's healing in itself. 09:15 One of the - I almost hate to say it... 09:19 One of the treatments for heart disease is a stent, 09:22 and I'm just curious Dr. Marcum, are you a stent person, 09:25 or are you a stent person under 09:27 certain circumstances, what's your take on that? 09:29 Yeah, well let me explain briefly what a stent is, 09:32 and a stent is a small stainless steel piece of metal that 09:36 goes into the arteries and we put it in over a balloon. 09:41 It's on top of a little balloon and the stent is on top of it, 09:44 and we blow up the balloon and then the stent sticks to 09:46 the vessel's wall and it squishes the plaque. Okay 09:49 So more blood can now move. 09:51 It doesn't get rid of the plaque. No it doesn't. 09:53 It doesn't take care of the underlying problem. 09:54 It squishes... It squishes it, okay. 09:56 So that heart that's not getting enough blood 09:57 can now see more blood, and now it maybe can 10:01 save a heart attack or it can prevent a dangerous rhythm. 10:04 So when would a stent be something that's beneficial? 10:07 If a person is having a heart attack... Absolutely! 10:11 Because if you don't put the stent in, 10:13 the heart doesn't get muscle. 10:14 If the elephant is sitting on your chest, 10:16 don't talk to be about broccoli. Right! 10:17 Talk to me about stents. Right, right now... 10:19 If you can't walk across the room because you have 10:22 severe chest pain and you can't breathe, 10:24 and you can't do the things you want to do, 10:27 then a stent would be worth the risk. Yes 10:29 Are there risk of stents? Absolutely 10:31 Any type of medical procedure, 10:34 there's a small risk of having death. 10:36 And when you put a stent in, all of a sudden you now have 10:39 coronary disease and stent disease. 10:42 See the stent is made of stainless steel, 10:44 and when the body sees this, the platelets want to clot on it 10:48 because it's a foreign object. Yes 10:49 So for a period of time, we have to put people on 10:51 powerful blood thinners 10:53 depending on what type of stent they have. 10:55 Also the stents, usually after time, the endothelium 11:00 grows over that stent and it's not as risky as time goes on. 11:04 But if I'm having a heart attack, 11:05 if I can't walk across the room, stents are very beneficial. 11:10 We can put stents in other organs besides the heart. 11:12 We can put stents in the aorta, we have stent grafts. 11:16 We can put them in the blood vessels that go to the legs. 11:18 A pretty thick stent here... Yeah, it's called an 11:21 endograft, we put a stent there. 11:22 We have stents in the arteries or leg. 11:24 They're even trying to do things in the brain now, 11:27 but the smaller the artery is, the harder it is to stent it, 11:30 and the more complications we have. 11:33 So, there is a place for stents. 11:35 Now, when is not a place for stent? 11:37 Some people, if they just have a blockage, it's 40 or 50, 11:40 and they're not having any symptoms, 11:41 then that person wouldn't benefit... 11:43 Forty or 50 percent you're saying. Yeah, blockage. 11:44 You might not benefit from that stent, 11:46 and unfortunately, there are cardiologists out there 11:49 that are putting in stents in vessels that don't need to, 11:52 and they're putting patients at risk that don't need to. 11:54 So if you're ever unsure whether you'd benefit from a stent, 11:58 if you're not having a heart attack, 11:59 you can always get a second opinion. 12:01 But if you're having symptoms, that's the place 12:04 when your stents are usually the most beneficial. 12:06 Let me get this question in here before our break... 12:08 What are the risks of bypass surgery? 12:10 Good idea? Benefits? Dangers? 12:14 Sometimes bypasses, when patients that can't have stents, 12:18 they're having lots of symptoms, they can't walk, 12:20 and we want everyone to walk to lower the risk... 12:22 Then the bypass just brings arteries south of the blockages. 12:26 It doesn't take away the blockages, 12:28 but it gives you another source of blood supply 12:30 so if that artery did become 100% blocked, 12:33 you wouldn't have as much damage done to your heart. 12:35 What are the risks of bypass surgeries? 12:38 Oh, there is lots of risk. 12:39 There's a risk of infection. There's a risk of dying. 12:42 There's a risk of stroke. They put you on special 12:45 machines that run your blood through machines 12:47 while they operate on you. 12:48 So there are lots of risks of that, 12:50 and it's very interesting, Charles, that people don't 12:52 think it's that big of a deal to have your 12:54 chest cut open and blood vessels pulled out of your legs 12:57 and sewed on to your heart, that's not a big deal. 13:00 You know, it's very much accepted in our society, 13:03 but if you ask someone about, well, maybe you should 13:05 cut back on the stress or maybe you should eat more plants. 13:08 OH! I can't do that, that's a big deal. 13:11 That's a big deal! But to filet someone open 13:13 and do this... so we have to have a new 13:15 way of thinking about the treatment of disease. 13:17 Treatment is for symptoms, but all these other things 13:20 we want to really focus on to lower our risk of 13:23 ever having to need this. 13:24 They do bypasses almost like on a factory basis. Yes 13:27 People lined up and their on a circuit and they just go 13:29 from place to place and person to person. 13:31 It's so common now, but every time they do it, it's dangerous. 13:34 Yeah and a lot of people think 13:35 it's a fix, "I can do whatever I want, 13:36 if I can just have a bypass, everything is going to be okay." 13:39 I was just reading now that, as long as you're taking 13:41 statins, people are taking risks now because the statins 13:44 are going to take care of the cholesterol problem. 13:46 Yeah and there's a lot of misinformation. 13:48 We're going to talk about statins on our return 13:50 because someone asked questions about that... 13:51 what are the medications and what are the benefits 13:53 and the risks involved there. 13:55 So we'll talk about that on our return. 13:56 Also a Bible text for today... Stay right where you are. |
Revised 2016-01-14