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Series Code: UP
Program Code: UP000064A
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00:16 There's an old American-Indian saying that goes like this...
00:19 Health is the #1 00:22 Power is zero Wealth is zero 00:26 Without health, you've got nothing! 00:30 So let's talk about #1 today, stay tuned... 00:35 I'm Dr. James Marcum, are you interested in 00:38 discovering the reason why? 00:40 Do you want solutions to your health care problem? 00:43 Are you tired of taking medications? 00:46 Well, you're about to be given "The Ultimate Prescription" 00:51 If you are a regular viewer of this program, 00:54 you know that we've been spending a lot of time lately 00:56 talking about your heart. 00:58 You only have one and when it goes, so do you! 01:02 That fact must be on the minds of many of our viewers 01:05 because of the type of questions we receive at 01:07 heartwiseministries.org 01:09 Cardiologist, Dr. James Marcum, is here to answer 01:12 some of those queries and something tells me, Dr. Marcum, 01:14 that you don't mind doing that one bit. 01:17 You know Charles, I've been answering questions 01:20 for quite a long period of time, and what I really like 01:24 about answering questions is it makes me learn more... 01:28 Because, you know, I don't have all the answers, 01:30 and frequently I have to go look for the answers... 01:32 And, my answers to people's questions, as you know, 01:36 has changed throughout the years. 01:38 As you learn more, you see things from different angles. 01:41 They've expanded... They've expanded, okay 01:44 And, you know, you're trained a certain way, 01:46 but as you learn, then you want to share 01:48 those with other people. Yes 01:50 Most of the questions we receive at heartwiseministries.org 01:56 sometimes there are no answers to. 01:58 But most people just want to know that there's 02:00 someone out there that will listen; 02:02 that there's someone out there that will care; 02:05 that there's someone out there that will pray for them. 02:08 And just having that feeling, 02:10 there's some healing benefit in that. 02:13 And also letting them know that there's a God, 02:15 a Savior out there that loves them, 02:17 and even though things might not be perfect now, 02:20 that someday things will be perfect. 02:22 And that's the message we try to get out there, 02:24 in addition to answering the health questions. 02:27 And I found that sometimes when you meet someone's needs first, 02:31 that opens up the avenue to have a relationship. 02:34 And that relationship leads them to, of course, the 02:37 ultimate relationship, so, yes, I love answering 02:40 questions and there are so many varieties of questions, 02:43 but what I've learned is... many of these questions 02:45 have sort of the same themes. Yes 02:48 And, you know, when you treat modern medicine, 02:50 you're given a diagnosis and the treatment for the diagnosis 02:56 is pretty much cookbook. Yes 02:57 But what I've learned is that it's not that simple. 03:01 We try to make it simpler than it is, 03:03 but our bodies, our minds, nutrition, our treatments 03:06 are much more complex. 03:08 Even our relationships are much more complex, 03:11 and yet, we're trying in our world 03:12 to take the energy from our relationships. 03:15 We're moving more technology. 03:16 Several years ago, when I started the practice 03:19 of medicine, I used to spend 75% of my time with patients. 03:24 But as time has gone on, that time 03:25 has been shrinking and shrinking. 03:27 I spend a lot of time with computers, typing stuff in, 03:29 but less time getting to know someone; 03:31 getting to know the way they think; 03:33 their belief system; what drives their thoughts; 03:36 what makes them scared... 03:37 And by answering questions, I feel like I can at least 03:40 touch base with that and have things that I can, 03:43 in a very short period of time, offer my patients to have them 03:47 have greater treatment options and greater healing options, 03:51 and like I said earlier, there's a difference between 03:54 medicines and healing. Yes 03:56 And we all, when we affect someone else, 03:58 we all, in the healing process, 03:59 the words you use, the way you relate to people; 04:03 the way you touch people; the way you make them feel... 04:06 All that's involved has a chemical reaction. 04:08 So we can all be solutions and all be healers 04:11 or we can be also destroyers. 04:13 And it is very important that we realize this when we interact 04:16 with people and we realize that God helps us... 04:19 for all of us to have some healing effects 04:22 on the world that we live in. 04:23 That is so important, I know that when I am facing 04:25 a medical issue, one of the things I want 04:27 most is reassurance that everything is going to be okay 04:31 or at least we're going to be able to do something about this. 04:33 We're going to be doing some work; 04:35 we're going to moving toward a goal. 04:37 That reassurance is very important to me, 04:39 and so that's what I hope that we're doing in this program. 04:42 I hope that we're providing you with some reassurance 04:44 that there are things you can do; 04:47 there are avenues you can take that will help at least 04:50 mitigate the problem and that's good news I think... 04:53 And that's only what's unique about "Heartwise Ministries" 04:55 is that reassurance is built in with the technology, 04:58 and that's important I think. 05:00 Right. All right. Yeah. You got a question there? 05:02 I do, we have a lot of questions here from 05:03 heartwiseministries.org 05:05 and this one fits right into what we're talking about. 05:08 It says here, "Every time my neighbor goes to the doctor, 05:11 she comes back scared to death on another new pill. 05:15 How can I help her?" And this is the neighbor 05:19 saying, "How can I help my neighbor who goes to the doctor 05:22 and comes back scared to death 05:24 with that new pill, what can you do? 05:26 And that is a question, a variation of that question 05:30 I hear all the time. 05:32 People are scared... you know, they're scared to do this, 05:35 they're scared of this diagnosis, 05:36 they're scared of the x-ray report that was abnormal, 05:39 the lab report where the potassium was a little bit high, 05:43 and a lot of the fear is that people don't understand. 05:47 And medicine uses these big, gigantic words, 05:50 you know, they don't call it "chest pain from the heart," 05:54 they call it "angina" and they don't call a "sore throat" 05:57 a sore throat, it's "pharyngitis." 05:59 All these fancy words to have this cloud of mystery... 06:03 The medicines what they do, you know, 06:05 all this mystery and you have a little lump here, 06:08 everyone is worried about it and it's important to be concerned. 06:13 I like the word "concerned." 06:15 Be diligent about these things. 06:16 Diligent about those - the words are very important, 06:18 but when you're scared and fear, 06:19 it turns on a very dangerous chemical cascade in the body. 06:24 Brains want to be safe... our brain says, "I want to be safe." 06:28 And if a car was coming at me head-on, 06:31 I would turn on these chemicals to protect me 06:33 from that car to protect my brain. 06:35 We go to that part of the brain that we share 06:37 in common with reptiles and that lives in the here and now. 06:41 "I want to protect myself from danger. 06:43 I want to turn on the chemicals and the neural pathways 06:45 that protect me from being killed. 06:47 I want to protect my existence." 06:49 And that's sort of a very selfish instinct 06:51 that we're born with. 06:53 We're born with that in our bodies. 06:55 It's very useful if we're facing real danger, 06:59 but what if we're not facing real danger? 07:01 What if there's not really a truck coming at us, 07:03 and we automatically turn on that because we fear 07:06 a diagnosis or a test result. 07:08 We turn on that chemistry. 07:09 You're facing an emotional danger. Yes! 07:11 And yet we're turning on all these chemicals 07:14 and it's not good for us. 07:15 So, what I try to tell people that have lots of fears... 07:18 First of all, we try to reassure them... this is not dangerous. 07:22 People are scared because they're either usually 07:25 overreacting or they're taking things personal. 07:27 And said, "Well is there a real danger here? 07:30 No, there's not. Maybe you're overreacting 07:32 because we don't have knowledge on this situation. 07:34 If the doctor has time to do that and that's the problem. 07:37 The doctors don't have time. 07:39 They could say, "Here's what I 07:41 found in you, here's what you got." 07:42 "Goodbye, I'll see you later, here's your pill." Yeah 07:44 But doctors don't have time for reassurance! 07:45 And that's why I'm talking here so this person can 07:47 go back to her neighbor and sort of explain things to her. 07:51 You know, let's not be concerned until we have to be. Okay 07:55 And let's get more knowledge and more information. 07:58 So as we get more information and more knowledge, 08:01 sometimes just having the reassurance... 08:02 "No, this is nothing serious," 08:04 or "These are some steps you can do." 08:07 And we're going to talk later about a very important 08:09 biblical prescription that will help with this, 08:12 but what I tell people first is to get reassurance... 08:14 If it's danger, we want to be concerned about it, 08:16 and take the steps 1-2-3, but if it's not, 08:19 what are some things that this person 08:20 can talk to their neighbor. 08:22 Well first, get all of the information you can 08:24 and see if what you're concerned about or fearful about 08:28 has a legitimate problem, and realize that fears 08:31 damage the body... fears and concerns. 08:34 And when we think about fears, fears, anxieties, phobias... 08:38 1 in 3 Americans have some type of anxiety disorder now, 08:42 and as you move up the ramp, you hear about post-traumatic 08:45 stress syndrome; we hear about the 08:47 broken heart syndromes. 08:48 All of those are terrible conditions, 08:50 these are actually medical problems. 08:53 We might not have a diagnosis for some of these thoughts 08:56 that we have, but these are real diagnoses. 08:58 Just because a physician can't give you a diagnosis, 09:01 doesn't mean you don't have a problem. 09:03 We just don't know and everyone is afraid, Charles, 09:06 of saying, "I don't know." Yeah 09:08 I don't know what to do about what this... 09:09 Everyone is so afraid of that. 09:10 Well, sometimes we don't know and that's why sometimes 09:13 we have to leave it to the "Ultimate Physician." 09:15 But, I would advise this person, first, to make sure 09:18 that you have a legitimate fear, then get all the knowledge 09:22 that you have about this. 09:23 Ask your doctors, go watch 09:25 television programs, educate yourself. 09:27 And then, when you feel yourself having lots of fear and anxiety, 09:31 take some deep breaths, hold it for 3 or 4 seconds 09:36 then blow it out - s l o w, do that 10 times. 09:39 And perhaps even say a prayer while you are exhaling. Yes 09:43 And feel your body start to relax. 09:46 Let your mind have some peace. 09:48 Another thing that you can do when you have these 09:50 fearful thoughts is find a nice prayer. 09:52 You know - "God, please relieve this fear in me." 09:56 You know, say that several times as you take deep breaths. 09:59 Let some of that stress go out. 10:01 Another thing is be thankful; 10:02 find 3 or 4 things to be thankful for. 10:05 It's hard to be fearful when you're 10:07 truly appreciative of something. 10:09 Another thing that might help is laugh and very hard. 10:13 Find something to laugh about, but if you have these 10:16 downloaded into your brain, and so when you have a 10:20 fearful or stressful situation, if you can go through 10:23 these steps, you have an automatic coping system, 10:26 and sometimes that alone will keep the fear out. 10:29 Because you know, if I don't have fear 10:30 I'm just going to do this and it's going to go away. 10:32 And then if you still have that thought, 10:34 and you know it's not doing you helpfully, 10:36 you bury that thought and say, 10:38 "I'm not going to think about this again, 10:39 I'm going to bury it, it's hurting me, 10:41 so I'm not going to give it a second thought." 10:43 "I'm just going to put it away, I'm just going to bury it, 10:44 and I'm going to throw away the markers, 10:47 I'm done, I'm not going to think about it again, 10:48 it's done, it's over." 10:49 So those are some simple things if you want to help you neighbor 10:53 and it's a big deal. 10:54 A lot of people now are fearful, are anxious... 10:57 You know, I hate to say this, but it additive too, 11:00 you know, you're fearful about the news that going on... 11:03 Some people are fearful that they eat the wrong food. 11:05 The news makes things scary, these conspiracy theories, 11:10 and these new treatments... "My doctor, I'm scared." 11:13 People are walking around in fear. Yes 11:15 This is not something that we should do and it's a disease. 11:19 And, it can lead to higher types of fear that we've talked about, 11:22 the anxiety, the phobias and all this. 11:24 So just wanting to help your neighbor, 11:26 that's a good treatment for that person 11:29 because when we serve people, we move our brains 11:32 to a higher level - we're not into that selfish mode, 11:35 we're more into the service mode and that's being more 11:38 working towards just where we've talked about before... 11:40 and that's this word called "love." 11:43 When we work towards love, 11:44 we turn off this negative stressful chemistry... 11:47 And serving is one way of loving. 11:49 So this person, when they are scared, 11:51 another thing they say is, "Well find someone to serve, 11:53 find someone to love, find someone to help out." 11:56 This might also help your being fearful." 11:58 And when we look at some of the biblical examples 12:01 of what people did... they turned to God, 12:04 they tried to find faith in Him, but not only is this 12:08 important right away, but over the long term, 12:11 if this is not dealt with, these fears, these anxieties 12:14 this chemistry turns on bad genes. 12:17 It makes us make bad decisions. 12:20 It affects our entire health over time - it's additive. 12:24 You might not see it right away, it's sort of a hidden disease. 12:27 And if it's not treated one year after another, 12:29 it leads to coping mechanisms, and sooner or later 12:32 our genes, our bodies are damaged; 12:34 the stress can lead to poor behaviors, 12:36 it can turn on genetics that lead to heart attacks. 12:38 All sorts of bad things can happen, Charles. 12:40 Well if we're changing our genes, 12:42 we're also changing what's going to 12:43 happen to those who come after us... 12:44 our children and our grandchildren. Yes 12:46 We are changing our DNA with this stuff. 12:49 You heard it, like some things run in the family. Yeah 12:52 You know - "My mom is a nervous person, it runs in the family." 12:54 Well, these are some genetic things that have been 12:57 passed down, but we can affect our genes in many ways, 13:00 and one of the ways we're finding out is 13:02 through this chemistry of fear, phobias, stress, 13:06 we can do a lot better with that. 13:07 Now in the margin here of this question, 13:10 you put Philippians 4:6, why did you put that there? 13:12 Well, I'm hoping we could talk about that, 13:13 it might be a text that comes up that we could share 13:15 with our readers later. All right let's do that. 13:18 We want to be living a life that doesn't have fear. 13:22 We want to make sure that what 13:24 we do has with it some confidence, 13:27 and the only place that we can find confidence... 13:30 The only place where we can find a fearless living 13:33 is for us to be involved with the God of victory, 13:37 the God of understanding, the God of love... 13:40 And we do that by getting to know Him 13:42 in the words of Scripture. 13:44 And when we come back, we have a really nice 13:46 little text that we would like to share with you, 13:48 as well as Philippians 4:6, that will help us 13:50 do that very thing. 13:52 God's pharmacy is open... The Bible is open, 13:54 and inside we find all kinds of medicines for our cure, 13:57 so stay right where you are. |
Revised 2016-03-23