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Series Code: UP
Program Code: UP000063B
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00:01 Welcome back to the program, I'm Charles Mills
00:02 here with Dr. James Marcum, a cardiologist, 00:04 and we're talking about heart health today. 00:06 and we want to have a strong heart, 00:09 we don't want to have a weak heart and there are things 00:10 we can do - Dr. Marcum is making 00:12 it very clear that there are things we can do 00:13 to help weak hearts become strong. 00:15 One of the things we can do apparently, according to 00:18 God's Prescription Pad which is the Bible, 00:20 is this and this is found in Psalm 34:19, 00:25 Psalm 34:19, up on the screen there - it says... 00:35 Isn't that good news for anyone with a weak heart 00:38 or any kind of weakness anywhere in their body? 00:40 Well that would definitely fit the definition of trouble 00:43 that would count as a trouble, 00:45 He delivers them all, but you know what? 00:47 He doesn't say how He delivers them, 00:48 and He doesn't say when 00:50 He's going to deliver. Interesting - interesting... 00:52 You know, so those are things that He's going to deliver us, 00:54 and we can have faith and hope in that, but when and how 00:57 sometimes we have to work through those things. 01:00 The fact that He is going to deliver us is a given. 01:02 When and how, we need to have faith, 01:04 and God will do it in His time and in His way. 01:06 Yeah, that's exactly right, Charles, but these are such 01:09 encouraging in biblical Scriptures that give us 01:12 technology that changes us and I've been doing some 01:16 exciting research into how the mind... 01:18 and how trust in God and belief in God, 01:21 and belief in His healing power. 01:22 That in itself has chemical benefits 01:25 that we're not able to quantitate for now, 01:27 but it actually helps in the healing process, 01:29 and you gotta believe and we know that 01:31 the belief system helps so much and we know that people 01:34 that go to church - they live longer than other people. 01:38 It's multifactorial - their belief in God, 01:41 their relationship with God, the community. 01:43 There's so many things that we don't understand 01:45 about modern medicine, but what does make sense 01:48 to me is we go to the Scriptures like we've been doing. 01:51 As we add this to the treatment regimen as well as the 01:55 prevention regimen, we're really getting at some very 01:58 secrets that the Creator knows even though we don't understand. 02:01 We have to still try to apply them. 02:03 So while we're waiting for God to do whatever it is 02:06 that God is going to do, whenever God is going to do it, 02:09 while we're waiting for that, we have a job to do... 02:11 And that is to do everything we can in our power 02:14 and those are the practical things we're talking about 02:16 here on this program week after week... 02:18 is how can we live, how can we make choices 02:21 that can bring about God's healing and help Him 02:24 do His work in us. 02:26 Yeah and I guess we can call those "natural remedies." 02:28 Natural remedies - absolutely! Natural remedies! 02:30 Okay, we're dealing with questions here about 02:33 weak hearts from the heartwiseministries.org website, 02:36 and here's one: "Does a defibrillator 02:39 make a heart stronger?" 02:41 Or is it like a Band-Aid? Is it a cover-up? 02:44 Does it actually make it stronger? 02:45 Now we have not defibrillators for long periods of time. Right 02:49 And, we found out in cardiology that when an ejection fraction 02:53 that we've talked about was below 35%, 02:56 a person was more prone to dangerous heart rhythms. 03:00 And the dangerous heart rhythms can really kill you right away 03:04 because you can't generate blood pressure, 03:06 it's the ones you shock and it's a big issue. 03:10 So, I'm going to give you this to hold, Charles. All right 03:13 Medical science came up with these defibrillators 03:15 that we put in people's hearts and the defibrillators... 03:19 Actually the wires and the leads go in the heart, 03:21 and these defibrillators can sense every 03:24 dangerous heart rhythm you have. 03:26 And if you have one of these dangerous heart rhythms 03:29 that come from a weak heart, it can not only sense it, 03:32 but shock the heart back into a normal rhythm. 03:34 Is it battery operated, I'm assuming? 03:36 Yeah, there's a battery in there, 03:38 and also has a pacemaker as well in that. Okay 03:41 And, it can handle the dangerous rhythms and we check them 03:44 periodically to make sure the battery is good, 03:46 make sure the leads are working there. 03:48 Now sometimes, if a person has abnormal wires in the heart, 03:53 there are some things that we can do with this called, 03:57 "resynchronization." 03:58 That's a big word that means we just try to get 04:01 the heart to squeeze a little bit better. 04:03 And that can actually help the heart do a little bit 04:05 better as far as strength goes. 04:07 So, if a person has what we call a "bundle branch block," 04:10 where the signals take longer to get through, 04:12 there are some that we can do to tweak this 04:15 to help the heart work more efficiently... 04:17 so in some cases, it can help make the heart beat stronger. 04:20 But in most cases, this is used as an insurance policy. 04:24 And you do that from outside, 04:25 you don't go digging in there and bring it back out. 04:27 No, it's all programmed from outside... 04:29 A little wireless thing happening. 04:30 Yeah, a wireless thing happening is right. 04:31 But these have helped save many lives because people 04:35 with a weak heart usually die from the rhythm problem. 04:38 They don't die from the heart being weak necessarily. 04:41 But it's like having insurance, I tell them it's like 04:44 having an ambulance with your 24/7. Yes, yes 04:47 If any of these dangerous rhythms happen, 04:48 boom - you have your ambulance with you. 04:50 It can shock the heart, it can pace the heart. 04:53 So defibrillators in some instances can make it 04:55 a little bit stronger, but in most instances, 04:57 it's there just to prevent disaster from happening. 05:00 Just like insurance, you know, you don't plan on your house 05:03 burning down, but if you have that insurance, 05:06 you have some protection. 05:08 When you have this installed in your body, 05:11 and it goes off, what does it feel like? 05:14 I've never had it go off in me, 05:16 but patients say, "It feels like mule kicking you in the chest." 05:19 BOOM! A big jump! A big hit! Wow! 05:22 But before we had that big mule kicking you in the chest, 05:25 getting your heart back to rhythm, 05:27 those patients would die young, so it's really a great 05:30 technology. I'd rather have the mule. 05:31 It really is a great technology for people with weak hearts, 05:34 so defibrillators, in some instances, they make the heart 05:38 stronger, but they're always a great idea 05:40 if you have a dangerous rhythm. 05:42 All right, very good. 05:44 Another question here from heartwiseministries.org 05:47 "I was told I have diastolic dysfunction, 05:51 and this is the reason I have fluid buildup in my lungs, 05:55 does this mean I have a weak heart?" 05:56 Well no, it does not, Charles, and there are different types 06:00 of heart failure, you know, one is called, 06:02 "a weak pump," that's "asystole" that's a pumping problem. 06:05 "Diastole" is when the heart relaxes... 06:08 So if you have heart failure, if the heart doesn't relax well, 06:11 you can also have problems through it..., 06:14 and we call that "diastolic dysfunction." 06:16 The heart doesn't know how to relax, 06:18 and there are certain conditions that can cause that. 06:21 The most common one that I see is probably high blood pressure. 06:24 Sometimes aging can cause the heart not to relax. 06:27 Of course, abnormal rhythms, the heart can't relax well. 06:31 Lots of things can cause diastolic. 06:33 The heart is perfectly strong, it pumps good, 06:36 but it doesn't relax and it takes relaxing 06:39 to fill up the blood, and then it takes pumping. 06:41 So as there are 2 parts of getting the blood everywhere, 06:44 the actual strength of the heart that pumps it during systole, 06:47 that's the squeezing part, and it relaxes 06:50 so it can fill up with blood. Okay 06:51 Now if it can't relax and fill up with blood, 06:53 "we have a problem Houston." 06:55 So it doesn't mean you have a weak heart, 06:58 and unfortunately advances in diastolic dysfunction 07:02 to relaxing hasn't been as strong has it has in systole 07:06 in modern medicine. 07:07 What are some thing naturally 07:09 we can do that will help that? 07:10 Well, anything that we can do to eat better, 07:13 that's going to help the arteries better. 07:15 An exercise program helps the heart relax more. 07:18 Getting adequate rest - some people have sleep apnea, 07:21 and they don't get adequate rest, 07:23 their heart doesn't relax well. 07:24 Controlling heart rhythms - that will help the heart. 07:27 Sometimes just slowing down the heart, if you have 07:29 the heart going too fast will help it have 07:31 more time to fill up. 07:34 So these are all little things, but a lot of people say, 07:36 "I have heart failure," and the first thing when they 07:38 have heart failure, I say, "Is it due to the strength 07:40 or the filling?" 07:42 And of it's due to the strength of the heart, 07:43 we go down this route; if it can't fill well, 07:46 we go down this other route... 07:47 But treatment is very different from each one of those. 07:50 All right, very good. Here's a question here... 07:52 You've covered a little bit about this. 07:54 Let's cover it a little bit more 07:55 because I think this is important. 07:57 "What prescription medication 07:59 start the heart becoming stronger?" 08:02 Now, these medicines that we're given, 08:04 they keep us alive - do they actually make the heart 08:08 stronger or is it an artificial strong? 08:10 No, they have done the studies and there are certain 08:14 classes of medicines that make the ejection increase. Right 08:16 And let me explain the physiology behind it... 08:19 We do have medicines that can block 08:22 discrete chemical pathways. 08:24 That's called "reductionalism," we focus on one pathway, 08:28 but, of course, it's better to affect all the chemistry. 08:30 And that's why these natural remedies change chemistries 08:33 all over the place that we can't even understand 08:36 that helps the heart, but we have some 08:38 principles that will help us block. 08:39 For instance, when a heart is weak, 08:41 the body responds by making the stress hormone "adrenalin," 08:44 also other chemical hormones are made. 08:47 But we have certain medicines that can block those 08:49 because if they're made under high amounts, 08:51 it actually makes the heart weaker. 08:53 Adrenalin is one of them; we have Angiotensin; 08:55 we have different ones that block different chemicals. 08:58 And we actually can give those and the benefits to the patient 09:02 in making the heart stronger outweigh the 09:04 risk of the medicines. 09:05 Now of course, we have to monitor them very closely 09:08 to make sure they're not having side effects. 09:09 Is this the only way to make a heart stronger? No 09:12 But it has been scientifically proven in double-blind studies 09:15 that patients with weak hearts 09:17 benefit from being on these medicines. 09:19 In fact, everyone that audits charts now, 09:22 if you have a weak heart, they want to make sure you're on 09:24 a beta blocker and an ACE inhibitor, 09:26 the ones that have been studied... 09:28 And there's other medicines like Aldactone, 09:31 other things that can help the heart too. 09:33 Now, someday we're going to have studies on 09:35 the natural remedies that changes the entire chemistry 09:37 to help the heart, but until then some medicines 09:40 do help the heart, but I prefer using everything 09:44 including finding out the cause to help my person 09:47 strengthen their heart as long as they're not having 09:51 side effects or if they don't believe in it. 09:54 Some people have very strong beliefs, Charles, 09:56 that they don't believe medicines help them. 09:57 They believe it's hurting them. 09:59 That belief, in itself, negates sometimes 10:02 the benefit of the medicine. 10:04 So I have to spend some time explaining this... 10:06 it has been scientifically proven, 10:08 as long as you don't have a side effect, 10:09 I think this medicine would be beneficial to you, 10:11 but if a person has a belief system and they're going to be 10:14 stressed out about that, that's going to counteract 10:16 mentally with the medicines I'm giving them. 10:19 The people that worry about this and I can understand why, 10:25 should we come at this as modern medicine is the answer, 10:31 should we come at it as modern medicine is an answer 10:34 or should we come at it as modern medicine is a failure 10:38 of everything else, so we might as well use it? 10:40 No, it's a supplement to helping a disease system. 10:44 Modern medicine is a supplement. 10:46 It's a supplement to what we should be doing all along, 10:48 and then sometimes modern medicine is lifesaving 10:51 because we haven't done things right. 10:53 For instance, when the heart gets weaker, Charles, 10:56 we can actually transplant and put a new heart in. 11:00 We actually have artificial hearts that can be done, 11:02 and some people they were exposed to a bad virus, 11:06 and it makes their heart weak. 11:08 We had one called, "Chagas disease," 11:09 their heart gets weak. 11:10 Well there's nothing sometimes we can do with the medicines 11:12 the heart gets weaker and weaker. 11:13 If we don't get a new heart in, they die. 11:16 So this has been a great place for modern medicine, 11:18 and no matter what they would do with lifestyle, 11:21 they couldn't... you know, they picked up the virus. 11:23 You know, it's a tough situation. 11:24 Some people are exposed to other things that make the heart weak, 11:27 so there is a place for modern medicine to supplement 11:30 if we need it with everything that we can do on our own. 11:32 Are we talking about a minority of people that have this 11:35 can't do anything else to help thyself - so I've got to use 11:38 modern medicine... is that a minority or majority of people? 11:40 No, most people can find things that they can do to help 11:43 themselves if they learn about it, 11:44 and are willing to make these steps. 11:46 All right, very good. It's very important that we 11:49 put modern medicine in the right place, 11:51 and that we put lifestyle issues in the right place, 11:54 and we don't depend on one to do the work of the other 11:57 because they don't work so well. 11:59 Modern medicine is wonderful under acute situations 12:02 as Dr. Marcum made it clear many times, 12:03 but for chronic situations, you gotta go with natural... 12:07 And that seems to be what works best. 12:09 We'll take a short break and when we come back, 12:11 we're going to talk to the Master Physician 12:13 about what works best for us and that's communication 12:15 with that Master Physician, so stay right where you are... 12:25 I hope you've learned something today about having a weak heart, 12:28 and I hope no one out there has a weak heart, 12:30 but if you do, there is help. 12:32 And, I want to review a couple of things... 12:34 First, find out why your heart is weak, 12:36 do everything you can to help yourself get better. 12:38 We talked about some of these natural remedies, 12:40 and use modern medicine when appropriate. 12:43 Let's say a prayer for each other... 12:45 Father God, We want to pray that our 12:47 hearts be right with Your heart, and Father, help us to 12:51 improve our health every day as we love each other 12:54 and serve each other, and get ready for You to 12:56 come home and take us home to be with You, Father 12:59 when all of our hearts are going to be made perfect. 13:01 Thank You for being a God that loves us so much 13:04 is our prayer... Amen 13:06 If you might have a question, you can go to our website: 13:10 heartwiseministries.org 13:12 We also have a prayer where we can pray for each other 13:16 and we can take care of each other as we are 13:17 in a great community of believers. 13:19 I want to thank you for joining us today, 13:21 and I want to wish you the best of health! |
Revised 2016-03-14