Participants: James Marcum & Charles Mills
Series Code: UP
Program Code: UP00016A
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00:01 The following program presents principles designed
00:03 to promote good health and is not intended to take 00:05 the place of personalized professional care. 00:08 The opinions and the ideas expressed 00:09 are those of the speaker. 00:11 Viewers are encouraged to draw 00:12 their own conclusions about the information presented. 00:16 Fact number one, the human brain is smart. 00:21 Fact number two, brains need blood. 00:24 Fact number three, many of us aren't using 00:27 enough of one to assure an ample supply of two. Stay tuned. 00:33 I'm Dr. James Marcum. 00:35 Are you interested in discovering the reason why? 00:38 You want solutions to your health care problems. 00:41 Are you tired of taking medications? 00:44 Well, you're about to be given the "Ultimate Prescription." 00:51 Today we conclude our examination 00:52 of the cardiovascular system and how many of us 00:55 seem to be doing everything we can 00:57 to shut it down permanently. 00:59 It's part of our series 01:00 on the major causes of death in this world. 01:03 Our brains sit behind our skull protected 01:07 but there is another way that they can be attacked. 01:09 Kind of like the river that flowed into Babylon. 01:11 This inside job can bring about devastating results. 01:15 Dr. Marcum, what are we doing to our brains 01:18 that brings out he cardiologist in you? 01:20 Yeah, well, cardiologist want to open up blood vessels 01:23 so the brain gets plenty of oxygen but unfortunately 01:27 the topic of stroke--stroke is very devastating 01:31 and many people watching today have had strokes. 01:34 Some people in the future will also develop strokes. 01:37 So we want to talk today about first define what a stroke is. 01:42 We wanna let people know what treatments are available 01:45 and how they can live if they've had a stroke. 01:47 How they can live more abundantly, 01:49 how they can be healed 01:50 when parts of their body not work well. 01:52 Now you've told us what a heart attack is. 01:54 You've talked about all these fibrillation and what not. 01:57 A stroke--how is it different and how is it the same? 01:59 Yeah, well, unfortunately it is another 02:01 leading cause of death around the world. 02:04 In some parts of the world it can be as high as number two. 02:08 In the States it ranks three or four so it varies. 02:11 But what a stroke is, is the brain doesn't get 02:14 enough of its nutrients including oxygen 02:18 and blood sugar. Sounds familiar. Yes. 02:20 And whenever it doesn't get the things 02:22 it needs to survive it doesn't do well. 02:25 When the brain doesn't get the nutrients it needs 02:28 both in oxygen and blood sugar a symptom develops. 02:31 And that symptom develops based on what part of the brain 02:34 is not getting enough blood. 02:37 And one of the acronyms that we use to talk about 02:40 stroke symptoms, okay, is this word called F.A.S.T. 02:44 F might stand for the facial. You might have a facial droop. 02:48 A stands for arms so we quickly have people 02:50 bring up their arms and if there one arm's going slower, 02:54 they're waggling a different way that might be sign 02:56 the part of the brain that controls the arm 02:58 is not getting enough of these nutrients. S is speech. 03:02 Frequently we have in stroke speech abnormalities. 03:05 Sometimes people might have eye problems. 03:08 People might have-- they can't move 03:10 the left or right side of their body. 03:12 These are symptoms of the stroke and the symptom that 03:14 that you get depends on where the stroke is occurring. 03:18 Stroke is devastating but if it can be addressed quickly 03:22 with blood flow sometimes a stroke can be totally 03:25 reversible and we have about three and a half to four hours 03:28 once the stroke happens to do something about it. 03:32 So if a person, Charles, if they think they might be 03:34 having a stroke and we'll talk about 03:35 the kinds of strokes in a moment. 03:37 If you'd like--if you think you might having this, 03:39 either you're not talking well, your vision's deranged, 03:43 you can't hold your arm straight, 03:44 part of it is numb or weak, you can't think right, 03:47 you need to get to the hospital right away 03:49 'cause time is of the essence just like in a heart attack. 03:52 We wanna bring the nutrients to the brain 03:54 so it starts working again. I had a person recently. 03:57 Her main symptom of a stroke was she could understand words 04:01 but she could not speak words. 04:04 You know, another person I saw recently, 04:06 they couldn't move the left side of their body 04:07 or they had a facial droop. 04:09 So when they go to the hospital the first thing 04:12 we wanna do is are you having a stroke? 04:14 Well, the brain is not working. Something's wrong. 04:17 So we take them to a C.A.T. scan and M.R.I. 04:19 and once we have that done 04:21 we decide what type of treatments 04:23 and luckily depending on what kind of stroke it is 04:26 we could initiate treatment. 04:28 Now there's different types of strokes, Charles. 04:30 One is a type of stroke where the-- 04:32 oh, you got your artery there 04:33 i do right there. i have my let me-we can show that-- 04:35 faithful artery right here. Yeah. 04:36 Sometimes, you know, we can have 04:37 an artery in the brain that spasms. 04:39 An artery is supposed to look like this. 04:40 It's supposed to be opened, right? Right. 04:42 It can spasm and things-- 04:44 a spasm can mimic a stroke 04:46 'cause the artery shuts down and opens up. 04:49 There's conditions, inflammatory conditions 04:51 where sometimes this happens. 04:54 Things that mimic stroke is low blood sugar. 04:56 If you have low blood sugar that might mimic a stroke. 04:59 If you weren't getting enough oxygen 05:00 that could mimic a stroke. 05:02 So we always check the blood sugar 05:03 and oxygen right away 05:05 in anyone that comes in with the brain not working well. 05:08 Another thing that can cause a stroke 05:09 is if you have a blood clot 05:11 that can come somewhere else through the body, okay? 05:14 And arteries in the brain can get blocked just like 05:16 the arteries of the heart. 05:17 They can get filled up with cholesterol. 05:19 And if you have a blood clot that's traveling 05:21 from somewhere else in the body 05:23 and it goes to a small blood vessel 05:25 then that part of the brain doesn't get enough blood. 05:28 Now blood clots can originate from the heart. 05:30 We talked about a rhythm called atrial fibrillation 05:33 that where the blood doesn't move to the heart. 05:35 Sometimes the heart is weak 05:36 and the blood sits in the bottom of the heart 05:39 and pumps it up. 05:40 So and when a person has a stroke it could be 05:43 what we call an embolic type of stroke. 05:45 Now you can also have blockages like this 05:47 where the blood just doesn't flow through. 05:49 This is a major blockage right there. 05:50 Yeah, and that can cause a stroke, too. 05:52 So whenever the blood doesn't get enough oxygen 05:56 and blood sugar you could have a stroke 05:58 'cause the blood is notgetting there. 06:00 Now there is another type of stroke 06:01 that happens about 13% of the time. 06:04 That's when the artery breaks open. 06:07 Let's say a weak spot. 06:08 You've heard of aneurysm? Oh, yes. 06:09 Yeah, that's a weak spot in a blood vessel. 06:12 And if that would have break open 06:13 the blood oozes out into the brain. 06:16 We call that a hemorrhagic blood stroke. 06:19 That stroke can be very devastating 06:21 and if that's seen on a C.A.T. scan 06:23 the treatment for that is immediately opening up 06:25 and fixing that blood vessel. 06:27 We can sometimes clip an aneurysm. 06:29 That's important to know 06:30 because if it's because of a blood clot 06:33 the treatment is very different. 06:34 If you have a blood clot the treatment 06:35 is going to be blood thinners, okay? 06:38 But you don't want to give blood thinners to people 06:39 that are bleeding 'cause they bleed more. 06:41 So that's why they have to get a C.A.T. scan 06:43 really quick if you think you're having a stroke. 06:46 If it's not a bleeding stroke then what we try to do 06:48 is we can give some medicines to break open, 06:50 open that artery up. 06:52 And if that sometimes-- And a C.A.T. scan can see this? 06:55 C.A.T. scan or M.R.I.--well, they can see if you're bleeding. 06:57 If you're bleeding, okay. Right, they can see-- 06:59 'cause that's gonna affect treatment. All right. 07:00 Now we make our decisions 07:01 based on a clinical history you know? 07:03 If the brain looks okay and it won't show 07:05 a stroke immediately we can say clinically 07:07 they're having a stroke, okay? 07:09 The brain doesn't show a bleed 07:11 so we would treat that with blood thinners. 07:13 And there's some powerful blood thinners that we use. 07:15 One is called T.P.A. which breaks up blood clots. 07:18 But nowadays we have a procedure where we can 07:20 actually go up into the brain with the device 07:23 and pull out the clot. Oh, my. 07:25 Now that's only at a few centers 07:27 and these are advanced strokes centers 07:29 but the key to treatment for the brain 07:31 is just like the heart. 07:33 You got to get treatment fast. 07:35 Now if the heart doesn't get enough blood 07:37 it sometimes has a dangerous heart rhythm. 07:39 Guess what happens to the brain? 07:41 The brain has a dangerous sort of rhythm. 07:43 It's called the seizure. 07:45 If a brain doesn't get enough blood 07:47 or it doesn't get enough oxygen it has a seizure. 07:49 So frequently strokes can precipitate seizures, too. 07:53 So the key is to recognize you're not thinking right. 07:56 Your body is not moving right. 07:58 Immediately get to the emergency room 08:00 and see if treatment could be done to help abort the stroke 08:02 whether it be an embolic stroke 08:04 with the blood clots floating somewhere else. 08:06 It might be that there is blockages in the arteries. 08:09 We now know that some arteries have spasms in it as well, 08:12 but stroke is so devastating because once the brain dies 08:15 things are really terrible you know? 08:17 The heart dies you can get away with a lot less heart 08:21 but when the brain starts dying and you can't move or speak 08:24 or you can't walk as well, 08:25 you can't feed yourself that's really devastating. 08:28 And nowadays, stroke-- the people that survive stroke 08:32 often can't do the things 08:33 and have the lifestyle that they want to. 08:36 And unfortunately once the damage is done 08:38 it's not like heart disease. 08:39 We don't have as fancier things, you know? 08:41 We can't, you know, shock the brain 08:43 if it's having a seizure, you know? 08:44 We have to give medicines. 08:46 We can't get back parts that are permanently damaged. 08:49 Now sometimes we can through stroke rehab 08:51 we can get people moving again and feeling better 08:54 and sometimes the brain can re-route some blood to that 08:57 but often people do not get the brain function back 09:00 and that's just really devastating. 09:01 And that's why we want to talk about stroke 09:03 since it's a cause of-- leading cause of death in the world. 09:06 We want people to know what a symptom of a stroke is 09:09 and that they have to get to the emergency room right away. 09:11 And there are developing treatments we can do to limit 09:14 the damage that might be occurring from a stroke. 09:16 This brings up an interesting thing. 09:18 I know a lot of people, Dr. Marcum, 09:20 say I don't want to cry wolf here. 09:23 I don't want to have this symptom 09:25 which is really not an issue. 09:28 A little bit of slurred speech, a little blurred vision, maybe, 09:30 a little weakness in the arm, I don't wanna run 09:33 to Dr. Marcum every time this happens 09:34 because aren't there are other things that sort of mimic 09:37 a heart attack or a stroke? Yeah. 09:39 Migraine headaches can mimic a stroke. 09:42 Frequently low blood sugar can mimic a stroke. 09:45 Low oxygen can mimic a stroke 09:48 but also a stroke can be a stroke. Yes, yes. 09:51 And we also know that there are certain people 09:53 that are high risk of developing a stroke. 09:55 People that have had strokes in the family, 09:57 people that have high blood pressure, 09:59 people that have diabetes, people that have heart disease, 10:03 people that have blockages in the arteries of the neck, 10:06 people that have weak heart 10:08 because there could be a blood clot that forms in it. 10:11 Those are people that are higher risk 10:13 of having a stroke. 10:14 So if they have a symptom and you're in a high risk group, 10:17 I want to stay at home and say 10:18 oh, it might be a migraine headache. 10:20 Now I would get help right away. 10:22 Now younger people-- there's a story 10:24 I heard not too long ago. 10:25 One person thought that they were 10:27 just having a migraine headache. 10:28 Well, what was really happening is the artery 10:30 in the brain was, what we call, dissecting. 10:32 It was ripping. oh. 10:33 And they got in there, luckily they got on time. 10:36 The neurosurgeon was able to fix that problem. 10:38 But I think it's better to be safe than sorry 10:40 because, you know, if you're wrong, 10:42 you have an emergency room visit and they say oh, it's a migraine 10:45 or a low blood sugar but if you're wrong, 10:47 if you're wrong about it 10:49 you could be devastated and limited 10:50 'cause you got a very narrow window to get help. 10:54 Now you're saying that the brain the can live 10:56 without oxygen longer than the heart. 10:58 Is that--is that what I hear you say? 10:59 Well, it's the--you know, the brain is so specialized, 11:02 you know, The heart just all it does, 11:04 you know, bless its heart, is it pumps blood everywhere. 11:06 That's true. So it's a pump. 11:08 So it can get by with a little less pump but the brain, 11:10 you know, well--can you get by with a part 11:12 that doesn't your arm? That's true. 11:14 Can you get part that doesn't move your feet? 11:16 Can you get part that, you know, 11:17 doesn't think or controls the eyes? 11:18 So it's really specific to blood vessels. 11:20 So the brain, you know, sometimes it can get by but 11:23 the brain is so complicated and it does so many things 11:27 for the body including controlling the heart. 11:29 So the brain function is just remarkable. 11:31 And since the stroke is such a real problem and we've seen 11:34 stroke rates go up 11:35 as prevalence of diabetes gone up because of obesity, 11:39 the prevalence of high blood pressure 11:40 is gone up because of our diet 11:42 which are filled with sodium, 11:43 the prevalence of these blockages go up 11:45 'cause we're eating lots of cholesterol. 11:47 So as the stroke rates have gone up 11:49 we need to work harder and harder 11:51 about doing the preventive things 11:52 at a young age to prevent it. 11:54 Now I heard not recently about 11:57 if we could prevent these things, 11:59 if we could live healthy lifestyle and control 12:01 these risk factors of stroke and heart attack 12:03 before people were 35 we could also prevent 12:07 all the stuff that's happening as people get older. 12:09 And we know that stroke tends to run 12:11 in elderly people more than younger people. 12:14 So if we could prevent-- live those first 35 years 12:17 as healthy as we can, the second 35 years 12:20 are gonna do really, really well 'cause this seems 12:22 to be a cumulative disease that we get. 12:24 So we are facing some things that we can do 12:28 in our first 35 years. 12:30 Now we talk about diet, exercise and all those things. 12:33 Let's move past the 35 years. 12:35 Let's move into our generation. Right. 12:38 Do the things that we do before 35 12:40 still help us after 35? 12:42 Absolutely, Charles, and, you know, 12:43 it would be great if we did all these things 12:45 in the first 35 years of our life 12:47 but sometimes we are not smart enough 12:48 to do that. Right. 12:50 So we finally catch on. 12:51 Hey, I need to do these things but if you're right now-- 12:53 if you're at a risk and want to lower your risk of stroke, 12:55 yes, do these things, you know? Start an exercise program. 12:58 Get the weight down. Have your cholesterol checked. 13:01 Having an adequate cholesterol can lower the risk of stroke. 13:05 We do know that lowering blood pressure 13:06 can lower the risk of stroke. 13:08 And a lot of these things can be accomplished chemically 13:10 by lifestyle changes, even more effectively than taking a pill 13:14 for everything. So it's scary now. 13:16 Once you've had a stroke then its devastating, 13:19 the treatment for that, the rehab, 13:20 the pills to prevent further strokes. It's just terrible. 13:23 And I just talked to so many people that come to the office 13:26 and they can't move a side or in a wheelchair. 13:29 And I said man I wish I could have, 13:30 you know--if I could've talked to them in their first 35 years 13:33 maybe we could have prevented this 13:35 or maybe we can get them at an younger age. 13:36 So awareness is the key and even if you've never 13:38 had a stroke we wanna prevent a stroke. 13:41 And there are some things you can do right now 13:42 to lower that stress on the body. 13:44 Well, we're gonna talk about those 13:45 and other things when we come back. 13:47 We have questions from Heartwise Ministries 13:49 about heart health and brain health. stay tuned. |
Revised 2014-12-17