Welcome back to the program,
I'm your host Charles Mills,
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we're here with
Dr. James Marcum,
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cardiologist, and
we're talking about hearts,
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and the frequently asked
questions that have come into
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heartwiseministries.org
00:00:09.24\00:00:11.07
We are also giving you
some biblical prescriptions,
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and here's a
beautiful one, I love this...
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This is from Psalm 27:14...
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We'll put it up on
the screen, there it is...
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Dr. Marcum, I
don't know about you,
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but I don't like to wait.
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To bring healing,
sometimes the Lord takes His own
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sweet time and I
want to go get a pill;
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I want to go get a procedure;
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I want to have something done
to me that fixes it right now
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so I can go back to work.
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So, how are we supposed
to learn to wait for the Lord
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and wait for Him to
do what He is going to do
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when we want to be
healed right now - this moment!
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Well I think in
listening to that question,
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the key word is "listen." Hmmm
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We have to listen and see
what God is telling you to do.
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Listen to Him and ask Him.
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Say, "God, what do
You want me to do?"
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"What do You
want me to wait on?"
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"Where do You want me to go?"
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"What would You have
me to do in this case?"
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Now read the second
part of the verse...
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Do you have the
second part there?
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I do... "Wait for
the Lord and be strong,
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take heart and wait for
the Lord." is all I have.
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I like that part, "take heart."
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"Take heart,"
there we go, take heart.
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What does that
mean? "Take heart"
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Be of good courage.
Yeah Don't get discouraged.
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Have hope. Yes!
Take heart, don't worry.
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He's going to
come through for us.
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Be patient,
don't worry about it.
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Have faith! Yes!
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Have faith, don't
worry. Just let Him have it.
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We can't do it, let
Him take control over this.
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I know a lot of
times when patients come in
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with rhythm
problems, I get impatient.
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Sometimes these rhythms
don't come back very often. Yes
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The patient says, "I
felt my heart go fast,
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and it won't come back
for months and months."
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In fact, I might say, "Take
heart, we're going to find out
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what it is."
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We have different monitors,
but now we have a device
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that we can implant under the
skin called a, "loop recorder,"
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and I can record every
beat of a person's heart.
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I can remember when I used to
practice in the Cincinnati area,
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I took care of a lot
of people on the airlines,
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and this one guy said, "I
have my heart beating fast,"
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and he happened to
work on an airplane.
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He didn't fly the
airplane, but he worked on it.
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And we put a 24-hour
monitor, and didn't catch it;
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wore it for 2 weeks
and, didn't catch it.
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Finally, he said,
"It really bothers me,
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but I didn't know what it was."
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I didn't know
which rhythm it was.
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Was it
supraventricular tachycardia,
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atrial fibrillation... I
didn't know which it was.
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I knew it bothered
him, so finally we put a
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loop recorder in him
and about 6 months later,
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it caught that rhythm. Wow!
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So, for him, he
had to take heart.
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I was going to eventually
find it, I had to be patient
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that sooner or later we
would find out what that is,
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and when we're in a
relationship with God,
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and when we're in
relationships with each other,
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we have to be
patient with each other.
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And I'm just so glad God
is patient with me, Charles.
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I want to show
you something... Okay
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That is called a
caliper. A caliper
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And this is how we
measure these small electrical
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pathways in the heart.
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You know, we measure them
on EKGs and see if they're
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within normal timeframes.
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Little printouts you mean? Yeah
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To get from here to
here, the signal should take
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so many milliseconds to
get to the top, the bottom,
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you know, about
120 milliseconds,
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that's how fast it
goes, different parts.
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We've actually measured
that and could measure that.
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And I guess we could use
it as a weapon if we needed to
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because it's very sharp.
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But what we do is we measure
the beats and we can learn
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about the beats - we
put it back and forth,
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I can sort of measure how much
it is and then I have a scale
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that will tell me how
fast that beat is going,
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and we know how
much the normal is.
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We don't use these as
much anymore because nowadays
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the computer does
all that for us. Yes, yes
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We have computer
printouts and it's amazing how
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technology had made
changes, and I'm wondering
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how many more years are
they going to need doctors.
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Pretty soon, Charles, they'll
go to the patient and say,
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"What's wrong with you?"
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And you'll talk
into your computer,
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and it will sort of
print out this alga-rhythm of
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what tests I should do and
what treatments I should have.
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I think that's wrong.
I would not be surprised.
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I think that a lot of healing
comes from that relationship
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and from that relationship
with the patient and the healing
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that comes from the
belief systems that the
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provider shares
with the patient.
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So I've been sad to see that
we've gone more the technology
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route and less from
the relationship route,
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but that doesn't
surprise me because we were made
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to have relationships.
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I don't think we were
made to have technology.
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It's another one of these things
that it's great sometimes,
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but also can get
in our way as well.
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I guess the bottom line
here is that healing sometimes
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takes time and we need
to be able to just say,
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"I'm going to wait for
it, it's going to happen,
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I have faith in
it and let it go.
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And you know Charles, God sees
healing different than we do.
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We define healing
as, "not having symptoms
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or not having disease."
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You know, I think a
better definition of is,
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"we're healed as long as we're
in a relationship with God,
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and if we're not in a
relationship with God,
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we're not healed."
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Maybe that would be a
better relationship as long
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as we're in a relationship
with God, we're healed.
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It's just "when."
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Okay, here's
another question from
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heartwiseministries.org
00:05:07.57\00:05:09.20
"I have atrial fibrillation..."
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Again, what's
atrial fibrillation?
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That's where the top part goes
faster than the bottom part.
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Okay. It sort of squeezes fast.
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"I have atrial fibrillation,
I am reluctant to take the blood
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thinner Coumadin, are
there natural alternatives?"
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I bet you get
this question a lot.
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I get that a lot,
right now, there are no
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natural alternatives
that have been proven
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in double
placebo-controlled trials.
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So right now, we
recommend Coumadin or one of the
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medicines that have been
proven until more information.
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Does that mean some
people don't take it...
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they think the
risk is too risky?
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Yes, I have a few
patients that have not taken it.
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And sometimes they do well,
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and sometimes
they do not do well.
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And what I do is when
a patient comes to me,
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I'd talk to them about
the risks and benefits,
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and let them make the decision.
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All right, very good.
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This next question here,
we've covered the pacemaker,
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that little device that we
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implant there
that helps the heart.
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Now there's another
device that we implant,
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it's called a "defibrillator."
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This person says, "My
doctor says, "I need one,
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a defibrillator... I'm
not sure what this means,
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help me out here a little bit."
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Yeah, when a person has a
weak heart, and we measure it by
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the strength - how much
blood it ejects each beat.
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We call it an
"ejection fraction."
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When it falls below a
number 35%, that's sort of an
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arbitrary number, but
we've done studies and showed
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when it falls below
that from whatever reason,
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blockages in the arteries
are the most common ones.
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But infections,
chemotherapy, other things
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can make a heart weak,
longstanding blood pressure,
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valve disease - when
it gets below that number,
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it raises the risk of it
having a dangerous arrhythmia
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called "ventricular tachycardia
and ventricular fibrillation."
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These are
life-threatening arrhythmias.
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If you don't get treatment
right away from these, you die.
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These are the ones that you see
people shocking, shocking it.
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Remember the slow
ones, we don't shock
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the slow ones, but
these are the fast ones
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that's from the
bottom of the heart.
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We shock those and give the
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heart a chance to
get back in rhythm.
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So a defibrillator helps those
people that have weak hearts
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that are more prone to have
these dangerous bottom ones,
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it sees that rhythm and
delivers treatment immediately.
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It's like having an ambulance
with you, Charles, 24/7.
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If that heart does something
dangerous, it shocks the heart,
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it also has pacemaker
in there as a backup too.
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So, that's with a defibrillator,
can this help you out?
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Absolutely, if
you have a weak heart.
00:07:30.38\00:07:32.68
Now I will tell a story here...
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I had one gentleman that
had a weak heart and he decided
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not to have it and he
had his reasons for it.
00:07:37.42\00:07:40.09
And, you know, one
day he was feeling fine,
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had one of these abnormal
rhythms from the bottom of his
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heart and he passed
away very quickly, yeah.
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But some people
choose to have it that way,
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and again, what I do is I
talk to them about all the
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risks and
benefits especially when it
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comes to modern medicine
because everything out there
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has risks as
well as the benefits.
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Now, what is the real
risk of a defibrillator?
00:07:59.97\00:08:02.78
Well the real risk is,
of course, putting it in,
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there's a small
risk of infection,
00:08:04.78\00:08:06.21
and sometimes, you know, we
talked a little bit before break
00:08:06.25\00:08:09.52
about knowing - if sometimes
people are too old to have it.
00:08:09.55\00:08:13.89
You know, do they have
other medical problems?
00:08:13.92\00:08:15.92
And sometimes, you put
in a pacemaker defibrillator
00:08:15.96\00:08:18.99
and it keeps people alive,
but it doesn't improve their
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quality of life.
00:08:21.86\00:08:23.37
So you also have to look
at quality of life as well
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when you put in
these life-saving devices.
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All right, very good.
00:08:28.67\00:08:30.01
Another question here
from heartwiseministries.org
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You may have to
help me on this one...
00:08:32.54\00:08:33.88
It says here, "Blood
tests toward ablation means."
00:08:33.91\00:08:37.45
Do you understand what
that means right there?
00:08:37.48\00:08:40.55
You know, I don't know
what the blood test means,
00:08:40.58\00:08:42.98
but I think this
person asks about...
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Maybe before ablation... Yeah,
what does an ablation mean?
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What is an ablation? This
is a very common procedure
00:08:47.89\00:08:51.63
that is a subtype
of cardiologists called
00:08:51.66\00:08:54.30
an electrophysiologist might do.
00:08:54.33\00:08:56.26
Let's say I find a
rhythm in the heart, Charles,
00:08:56.30\00:08:59.50
that comes from a
certain spot that is genetic,
00:08:59.53\00:09:02.90
there are no
other medical problems.
00:09:02.94\00:09:04.27
These rhythms now, we
have the technology to go
00:09:04.31\00:09:06.51
up and we can map those
in the heart and through a
00:09:06.54\00:09:08.81
sophisticated
electrical mapping,
00:09:08.84\00:09:11.11
we can find that and destroy
it with radiofrequency energy.
00:09:11.15\00:09:14.82
We can actually
destroy atrial fibrillation.
00:09:14.85\00:09:17.49
We can destroy
supraventricular tachycardia.
00:09:17.52\00:09:20.22
We can destroy
ventricular tachycardia.
00:09:20.26\00:09:23.12
So we have the ability to
destroy some of these rhythms,
00:09:23.16\00:09:26.19
and that's what an ablation is.
00:09:26.23\00:09:28.00
It really destroys
the abnormal rhythm.
00:09:28.03\00:09:30.43
The doctor that does that is
called an "electrophysiologist."
00:09:30.47\00:09:34.64
Now, do we do that in everybody?
00:09:34.67\00:09:36.24
No, sometimes if we
can change different things
00:09:36.27\00:09:38.71
in their lifestyle.
00:09:38.74\00:09:40.14
Some medicines would do this,
but this is a very sophisticated
00:09:40.18\00:09:43.85
procedure that we
haven't had forever.
00:09:43.88\00:09:45.55
When I first started
medicine, 20+ years ago,
00:09:45.58\00:09:49.32
we didn't do this, we
didn't have this around
00:09:49.35\00:09:51.32
as much, but now some people
that have atrial fibrillation,
00:09:51.35\00:09:55.12
we destroy that rhythm.
00:09:55.16\00:09:56.49
Now it's a very
long, drawn out procedure,
00:09:56.52\00:09:58.56
there are some risks
to that, but some people
00:09:58.59\00:10:01.16
receive a lot
of benefit from it.
00:10:01.20\00:10:04.17
That is pretty amazing
and is there a blood test
00:10:04.20\00:10:06.97
that says you need to take that?
00:10:07.00\00:10:08.34
Is there any connection
there between this blood test?
00:10:08.37\00:10:10.84
No, I don't know what they
were meaning by the blood test,
00:10:10.87\00:10:13.14
and that one
must have got through.
00:10:13.17\00:10:14.51
All right... "My daughter saw an
00:10:14.54\00:10:15.94
electrophysiologist and
he mentioned this to her.
00:10:15.98\00:10:20.05
Is this a
common procedure?" Yeah
00:10:20.08\00:10:21.88
Nowadays, destroying
the rhythm with an ablation
00:10:21.92\00:10:25.72
is a fairly common procedure.
00:10:25.75\00:10:27.39
The electrophysiologist in my
group do these every single day.
00:10:27.42\00:10:31.96
Is that like open heart surgery?
00:10:31.99\00:10:33.33
Well, they go up
through the veins and arteries,
00:10:33.36\00:10:36.43
and they have a bunch
of devices and they have
00:10:36.46\00:10:38.33
computers that monitor
and they map where the rhythm
00:10:38.37\00:10:40.64
is coming from and they
put an electrode right near it,
00:10:40.67\00:10:42.97
and they can destroy it
with some sound wave energy.
00:10:43.00\00:10:45.67
But you know, one of
the most common rhythms
00:10:45.71\00:10:48.04
we have is skipped beats. Yeah
00:10:48.08\00:10:49.51
And a lot of people have
skips and when a person comes
00:10:49.54\00:10:51.88
and says, "My heart is
skipping," I usually say,
00:10:51.91\00:10:54.75
"Well, what's the stressor
that's causing it to skip?"
00:10:54.78\00:10:57.19
And usually if I can find
the stressor, the skipped beats
00:10:57.22\00:10:59.79
get improved quite a bit.
00:10:59.82\00:11:01.42
So that's probably one of
the more common ones I have
00:11:01.46\00:11:03.49
is skipped beats and
we find out about that
00:11:03.53\00:11:05.39
by just putting
a monitor on them.
00:11:05.43\00:11:06.96
How do we find
someone like you, Dr. Marcum?
00:11:07.00\00:11:10.07
Give us 15 seconds -
how do we find someone who
00:11:10.10\00:11:12.33
has that kind of caring
attitude and wants to use
00:11:12.37\00:11:14.54
that biblical technology...
how do we find out?
00:11:14.57\00:11:16.10
Well, I think the
best way is word of mouth,
00:11:16.14\00:11:19.21
talk to a lot of
different people,
00:11:19.24\00:11:21.61
see who matches up with
the way you feel inside.
00:11:21.64\00:11:25.58
You know, I've admit that I
try to use the balance approach.
00:11:25.61\00:11:28.38
I'm sort of moderate.
00:11:28.42\00:11:29.75
There's a place for
medicines, diet, nutrition,
00:11:29.78\00:11:31.49
I'm always learning,
but I think there are many
00:11:31.52\00:11:33.42
physicians out there like that.
00:11:33.46\00:11:35.02
Just look, but ask your friends,
00:11:35.06\00:11:36.56
that's probably
the best way to go.
00:11:36.59\00:11:37.93
All right, very
good. When we come back
00:11:37.96\00:11:39.63
we're going to ask
our "Ultimate Friend"
00:11:39.66\00:11:41.56
the "Ultimate Physician"
in heaven to be with us
00:11:41.60\00:11:43.77
as we heal - that's God Himself,
00:11:43.80\00:11:45.37
so stay right where you are.
00:11:45.40\00:11:46.80
We've been
talking about the rhythms,
00:11:52.51\00:11:54.68
the rhythms of the
heart, but there are also
00:11:54.71\00:11:56.81
rhythms of life.
00:11:56.85\00:11:58.55
And as you go through
life, I think you'll understand
00:11:58.58\00:12:02.32
that there are times in
our lives where things are
00:12:02.35\00:12:04.22
going fast and there are times
when our lives are going slow,
00:12:04.25\00:12:07.49
but make sure we continue
to listen to our Creator who
00:12:07.52\00:12:10.43
creates these rhythms for
us, now let's pray together...
00:12:10.46\00:12:13.29
Father God, We want to thank You
00:12:13.33\00:12:15.40
for listening to us today
and being part of our lives,
00:12:15.43\00:12:18.47
being part of our
rhythms of our lives and we just
00:12:18.50\00:12:21.40
long for the day when
we can be with You, Father.
00:12:21.44\00:12:24.04
We want to introduce
as many people as we can
00:12:24.07\00:12:26.84
to You so they can see
Your love and see all the
00:12:26.88\00:12:29.51
good things you
have for them, Father.
00:12:29.54\00:12:31.01
We want to thank You
for everything You're doing
00:12:31.05\00:12:33.05
for us and the healing power
that You help each one of us
00:12:33.08\00:12:36.38
with each day...
is our prayer. Amen
00:12:36.42\00:12:38.69
If you might be interested
or have more questions,
00:12:38.72\00:12:42.12
we'd love to serve you more.
00:12:42.16\00:12:44.43
You can do that at our
website heartwiseministries.org
00:12:44.46\00:12:47.86
And I want to encourage
everyone to pray for each other,
00:12:47.90\00:12:50.93
to pray for healing,
look to the Bible for the
00:12:50.97\00:12:53.30
answers to
life's tough questions.
00:12:53.34\00:12:55.77