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Series Code: UP
Program Code: UP000063A
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00:16 You've heard of the 98 pound weakling on the beach
00:19 with all the big guys kicking sand in his face. 00:22 Being not strong isn't necessarily bad unless you're 00:26 talking about your heart. Stay tuned... 00:30 I'm Dr. James Marcum... 00:32 Are you interested in discovering the reason why? 00:35 Do you want solutions to your healthcare problem? 00:38 Are you tired of taking medications? 00:41 Well, you're about to be given "The Ultimate Prescription" 00:46 It all comes down to this... 00:48 How strong is your heart? 00:52 Well, how strong does it need to be? 00:54 Apparently very strong, after all, it sits there pumping 00:57 24/7/365- it doesn't even get Christmas off. 01:02 So heart-strength should be of utmost importance to us all. 01:06 Right, Dr. Marcum? Absolutely, Charles! 01:09 And you know, everyone comes in wanting to know, 01:12 "Well, what's the strength of my heart?" Yes 01:15 And what that means is... How well does the heart 01:17 pump blood to the entire body? 01:19 And there are many ways we can measure the 01:22 strength of the heart. 01:23 The simplest way is just to listen to it to see 01:26 if it's enlarged; feel the pulses everywhere 01:29 to make sure the blood is getting everywhere, 01:31 and make sure all the organs are being nourished. 01:33 Does a weak pulse mean you have a weak...? 01:35 Not necessarily - other things can cause a weak heart too, 01:39 especially if there are problems with the arteries. Okay 01:42 So there are lots of ways we can measure 01:45 if the heart is strong or not. 01:46 We can listen to it; we can feel it; 01:48 x- rays if the heart is enlarged, 01:50 that might be a sign of a weak heart. 01:51 EKGs can give us hints of a weak heart. 01:55 But the most common way we do it nowadays 01:58 is with ultrasound where we look at the heart, 02:00 and we can measure the strength of the heart. 02:02 Ultrasound is also very useful for us because we 02:05 could also tell if the heart is weak, why it's weak. 02:08 And then we're going to talk about that as we go today 02:11 because many things can make a heart weak. 02:13 Of course, the one we've talked about the most common 02:16 is coronary artery disease which 02:17 is the reason people have heart attacks. 02:19 So, lots of things can make a heart weak. 02:22 So once we decide it's weak, 02:24 we want to know why it's weak. Yes 02:26 And then we start looking because the treatment for 02:28 a weak heart is answering the question "Why?" 02:31 If we can fix the reason "why," 02:33 sometimes the heart can get better. 02:34 Sometimes the heart is not permanently damaged. 02:37 We have lots of ways to make hearts stronger. 02:40 For instance, if it's coronary disease, 02:41 make the coronaries better. 02:43 If it's valvular disease, make the valves better. 02:46 If it's high blood pressure, treat the high blood pressure. 02:49 Sometimes other things can make a heart weak like chemotherapy. 02:53 Certain infections can affect it, 02:54 viral infections can make the heart weak. 02:56 Some people are born with a weak heart. 02:58 So there are lots of different causes for a weak heart. 03:01 There are lots of things we can do. 03:03 No one wants to have a weak heart. 03:04 Now a symptom might be according to the cause. 03:07 If a weak heart is due to coronary disease, 03:09 people might have chest pain, they might have valve disease. 03:12 The people might feel tired; 03:14 they might have problems with breathing; 03:15 they might swell up; they might have no energy. 03:18 These are all symptoms I hear when people have weak hearts. 03:22 And this makes sense because the heart is what is pumping 03:26 energy throughout the entire body - the blood. Right 03:29 Without that blood, without the nutrients, the oxygen, 03:31 and the water and all that throughout the body, 03:34 you're going to have weakness elsewhere. 03:36 So it is like the central requirement of the whole 03:40 body to be strong - is to have a strong heart. 03:42 Yeah and that's a good point, Charles, because when our 03:45 heart is working maximally, and when our blood vessels 03:48 are healthy as well - that's what we call 03:49 "cardiovascular system," every organ in our body 03:54 depends on oxygen, the nutrients 03:56 that the heart and the blood vessels supply. 03:58 So really, when we talk about any disease, 04:00 the heart and the blood vessels 04:01 are key components to everything. 04:03 For instance, sometimes the kidneys are damaged 04:05 just because they don't get enough blood to them. Right 04:07 So the real solution is fixing the heart 04:09 and the kidneys will get better. 04:11 And, you know, in our brain, I can't tell you how 04:13 often our brain improves when we have good circulation. 04:16 People that have dementia, exercise helps 04:19 improve the way they think. 04:21 All sorts of good things when we can improve our 04:23 heart and blood vessels that helps other organs. 04:25 You know, I even heard it will help grow hair on your head. 04:29 A strong heart will grow hair on your head. 04:31 Yep via circulation! 04:33 You know, the heart gets the circulation up there, 04:35 you stimulate the circulation, more nutrients for the 04:38 roots of the hair - BOOM, I'm going to work on that! 04:41 You see, I have some genetic problems. 04:42 Did you know my grandfather, he was in his 30s, 04:45 and he was bald - so there's a genetic component to that. 04:49 Now does this getting the blood there override the genetics? 04:53 I don't think so. Okay 04:55 But I wish it could, but maybe can delay it a few years. 04:58 We can try. All right, okay. 05:00 Questions! Questions from heartwiseministries.org 05:04 on the subject of weak and strong hearts. 05:06 This person said, "I have been told that I have a weak heart, 05:10 but I feel fine." 05:12 How can you have a weak heart and feel fine? 05:15 Well, because the heart is still supplying that 05:17 person's needs right now. Enough needs... okay 05:20 And the heart has the ability to compensate, 05:22 and it compensates by getting larger. 05:25 And the body compensates by putting chemicals 05:28 out that stimulates the heart... 05:30 Adrenalin goes up, angiotensin goes up. 05:32 These chemicals that help the heart compensate 05:34 so the body is still happy. 05:36 So God has built in mechanisms that even though we don't 05:38 feel a weak heart, we still compensate. 05:40 But sooner or later, sometimes we cannot compensate. 05:43 Well this compensation is putting you 05:44 in to an altered state certainly. Yes it is. 05:46 To keep the body going, you make more adrenalin, 05:49 the heart gets bigger so it can fill up with more blood, 05:51 other chemical hormone changes and we call this 05:55 the neurohormonal axis changes when a heart is weak. 05:58 Now, what could be causing the weak heart? 06:01 And that's lots of different things and when a person 06:04 comes in and I find out they have a weak heart, 06:06 what I do is, I look for the things that are most common, 06:09 and it's reversible. 06:11 And the most common is coronary artery disease, 06:13 so we do tests to look at the arteries. 06:15 Another common is thyroid, so we look for thyroid. 06:18 I ask them questions about whether they do toxins. 06:20 Did you know that alcohol in some people 06:22 can make the heart weak? 06:24 Yeah, toxins, chemotherapy, some people have gotten 06:27 radiation and sometimes that damage 06:30 unfortunately is permanent. 06:31 We ask about nutrients; 06:32 we make sure they don't have valve disease. 06:35 Some kinds of rhythms that are ongoing all the time, 06:38 for instance, let's say you have atrial fibrillation... 06:41 we talked about that and your heart runs fast all the time. 06:44 Just being fast all the time can sort of wear the heart out. 06:46 It's like running a race 24/7 and never having rest. 06:51 Things like sleep apnea where you don't get enough 06:53 oxygen, that can make a heart weak... 06:55 So there are many different things that make a heart weak, 06:57 and I started the most common things that we can treat, 07:00 and then I work down the list until I can find out the cause 07:03 because then I can tailor treatment. 07:05 All right, so the fact that you have a weak heart 07:07 is not a death sentence per se. 07:09 No, lots of people have weak hearts and they do wonderful. 07:12 We find out the cause of it. 07:14 We have medicines that can actually help strengthen 07:16 the heart by blocking some of these dangerous chemicals. 07:19 People with weak hearts usually have problems with rhythms, 07:22 so we have some things that we can do with rhythms, 07:24 as far as defibrillators, we can do things with that. 07:27 We also have special diets we try to put people on to help 07:31 strengthen their heart, lots of things we can do. 07:35 This is an interesting point and I want to just spend a 07:37 moment here with this... 07:38 There are a lot of conditions that we have in our bodies 07:43 that really - you know, good food, diet and exercise, 07:47 and faith in God and all those things... 07:49 sometimes they can only go so far. Right 07:52 We are living 6,000 years from the hand of the Creator, 07:55 and we are not having perfect bodies at all. 07:58 We are damaged, we are aging. 08:00 There are some things that just go beyond our abilities 08:03 in lifestyle to address. 08:05 That is where modern medicine shines! 08:08 It comes right in there and it does amazing things 08:11 to help us live a good quality life longer... 08:14 And so we need to open our minds to the fact 08:16 that it may be necessary for us to enjoy the benefits 08:20 of the modern medicine that God has created for us. 08:23 God put all of this stuff out here for us to benefit from, 08:26 and we should not shy away from modern medicine 08:28 because it's modern medicine. 08:30 But you know what, I would like to take 08:31 it one step further and say these lifestyle changes... 08:33 that is modern medicine. 08:34 That is, actually it is, it is. Yes 08:36 Prevents and treats and that should be the start 08:39 of treatment and prevention, 08:41 and then we should only use this sort of as last resorts. 08:44 All right, instead we're using as first resort. 08:46 Oh I have an ache, I have a pain, go see the doctor, 08:48 get a pill, get a bill and everything is fine... 08:50 and that's not the way it should be. 08:51 No, if we can find ways to treat it naturally. 08:54 You know, and "natural" doesn't always mean take a supplement. 08:57 Naturally means living healthy, eating better food, 09:01 having better thoughts, exercising, drinking water... 09:04 Those are things that I consider natural. 09:06 All right, very good, I like that. 09:08 Okay, another question from heartwiseministries.org 09:11 "How can I make my heart stronger; 09:14 my ejection fraction was 38%." 09:18 And that's pretty high, isn't it? 09:19 No it's not. Oh, it's not high? 09:20 A normal ejection fraction is usually above 55%, 09:23 that means how much blood 09:25 the heart is pumping out with each beat... Oh, I see. 09:28 So the higher the number, the better. Yeah 09:30 The heart is not efficient enough to pump out 09:32 everything with every beat. 09:34 So how much it puts out of in it, 09:35 we call that the "ejection fraction." 09:37 So what is normal then above...? 09:38 No, 55- 60 is above normal. 09:40 Some people go down as far as 50%, and that means 09:43 half of all the blood goes out. 09:45 So when a person wants a stronger heart, 09:48 we have to understand why, and if it's due to 09:50 blockages in the arteries of the heart, improve the arteries. 09:53 So, on this person, only 38% of the blood is getting out. 09:55 Yes, 38% that's the ejection fraction... 09:59 Well, we can find out what's causing it. 10:01 If it's due to arterial disease, sometimes people benefit 10:04 from having a bypass surgery. 10:06 Sometimes they benefit from having a stent to make 10:08 their heart stronger. 10:10 Of course, everyone benefits by lifestyle changes. 10:12 The nitric oxide that comes from eating a 10:15 whole food plant-based diet can make the arteries bigger. 10:17 An exercise program can make the heart more efficient 10:20 and stronger as well. 10:21 Getting adequate rest... you know the heart has to have 10:24 some down time. Yes 10:25 All of those are little things that can help breathing well. 10:28 Keeping the stress down is very important for a weak heart. 10:31 When a heart is weak, it makes extra adrenalin 10:34 to keep the heart going, but if you are under stress 10:36 you're making more and adrenalin long-time actually 10:39 kills heart cells, it kills the myocytes. 10:42 So one of the medicines we put people on, 10:44 that have weak hearts, blocks that damage 10:46 from adrenalin and those are called "beta blockers." 10:49 So people with a weak heart are usually on beta blockers. 10:52 Another type of medicine they are on is ACE inhibitors that 10:55 blocks another dangerous chemical. 10:57 So to make their heart stronger, I would go to find out 11:00 the reason why - see if it's a valve, fix the valve. 11:02 If it's the thyroid, treat the thyroid. 11:04 Find out the reason why and then also work on a beta blocker 11:09 and ACE inhibitor, but before that, I would get to a whole 11:12 food-based diet; a modified exercise program depending 11:16 how much you can do; stress reduction techniques... 11:19 I would work on that and I would also work on making 11:22 sure your heart gets enough rest. 11:24 Those are some of the basics. 11:25 Now you've mentioned a lot of medicines here and they're very 11:29 powerful and much needed in some circumstances, 11:32 but a lot of people out there are saying, 11:34 "I want to go natural, I want to do this." 11:36 You mentioned that lifestyle is a natural way of going. Yes 11:39 Are there some natural remedies to help the heart. 11:43 Yeah, well there are some that's been proven out there, 11:45 but remember the natural remedies I don't view 11:47 that much different than a medication. 11:50 Anything that we put in our body has a chemical reaction. 11:54 Whether that be our thoughts, the food, the herbs, 11:57 but there are some herbs... hawthorn is one of them 12:00 that's been shown to help make the heart stronger... 12:02 And they use that very frequently in Europe. 12:05 And hawthorn has side effects so you're saying. 12:07 Everything has side effects. Yes 12:09 Some of them have been studied more than others. 12:10 That's one natural thing that has been used to make 12:13 the heart stronger. 12:14 But when I think of natural remedies, 12:16 I think of looking at the whole 12:18 body that will make the heart stronger. 12:20 What are things that I could do for the whole body 12:22 that will change my chemistry? 12:23 And my goal is to make the adrenalin and those type of 12:27 damaging chemicals less and find out the reason why. 12:29 So if I can get people to eat healthier, 12:32 that's a natural remedy. 12:33 If I can get them to walk and move every day, 12:36 even getting up out of a chair, that's a natural remedy 12:38 that changes the chemistry of the entire body. 12:40 If we can treat their brains 12:42 and get their brains less stressful, 12:44 that helps the whole body. 12:46 If we can teach someone to rest, those are all natural remedies 12:47 those are all natural remedies that help too. 12:50 And then if we need to, we can add on more things to that. 12:53 And I wish, Charles I wish I had the scientific studies 12:56 that said, "I'm going to compare a day of rest for someone with a 13:00 weak heart with a beta blocker and see who would win. 13:03 I would love to have the studies to compare 13:04 with someone that will eat a whole food plant-based diet 13:07 to strengthen their heart with an ACE inhibitor. 13:09 Those would be wonderful studies to have. 13:11 Well I mean, the studies sort of have been done 13:13 where in those countries where heart disease 13:15 is almost unheard of... like the China Study, Campbell, 13:18 that the people who don't have heart disease 13:21 tend to be the vegetarians and live the lifestyle 13:25 that doesn't have all that stress, 13:26 so you have, sort of, that study going on. 13:28 Yeah because the #1 cause is blockages in the arteries 13:30 and that's the #1 cause of weak hearts today. Okay, all right 13:33 Well it looks like we're coming up on the break, 13:35 and so I don't want to ask this next question 13:37 until we come on the other side of the break. 13:38 When we do, we like to go to God's Prescription Pad, 13:42 the Bible, and find a text that is encouraging to us 13:45 and brings hope to the sickest heart or the sickest mind, 13:48 or the sickest body and I think we have found one 13:51 here that you will find will really help you 13:54 and give you encouragement and hope, 13:55 so stay right where you are, we'll be right back. |
Revised 2016-03-14