Have you ever sat down to take
your medications and wondered
00:00:14.91\00:00:17.78
"How did I get here?"
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Do you wish you
could reduce your need for
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prescription medications?
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Discovering the
reason of why we're sick
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is the focus on today's program.
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And we'll be sharing
ideas that you can use
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to help improve
your health today
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no matter where
you're starting from.
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Hello and thank you
for joining us here on the
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"Ultimate Prescription,"
a program dedicated
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to helping us better understand
God's design for our lives,
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and experience better
health by following His plan.
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I'm your host Nick Evenson,
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and I'm joined
by Dr. James Marcum,
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and today we're going to
be discussing why we're sick.
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Dr. Marcum,
welcome to the program.
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Well Nick, it's
great to be here,
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and, you know, this is
such an important question - is
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understanding the reason why.
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So we're going to talk
about that today and help people
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begin a framework to
understand "Well why am I sick?"
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Because if you can
understand the reason why,
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then that helps in the
treatment and it helps you
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accept different conditions.
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It makes everything
better if you have the knowledge
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and education to
understand why these things
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are happening to
me. That's right.
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But before we get
into that discussion,
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you've been on the
television at 3ABN here
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for a number of years,
but you actually are not
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a television personality;
you're not a T.V. doctor, right?
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No, I'm not Nick, I'm a
practicing cardiologist,
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and I see patients every day
in the office in Chattanooga,
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at the
"Chattanooga Heart Institute,"
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and, you know, in the practice
of medicine now - I don't know
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if you've noticed but
when you go to the doctor...
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I used to write things out
a lot, we don't write anymore.
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You know, we do a lot on the
computer, a lot of dictations,
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but the time with patients
have gotten smaller and smaller
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through the years as
the needs have gone up.
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And so what I try to develop is,
I want to get more information
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that not only my patients,
but other people that might
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want knowledge about things,
so through the years, that's how
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"Heartwise Ministries"
has developed as a way to
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educate people and as I've
learned, I've turned to the
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Bible and find that there's
biblical prescriptions that we
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can apply to a patient's life.
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And also, when they
come in the presence
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of their healing Savior,
then that brings healing.
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That's the
greatest prescription,
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the greatest miracle of all,
even if we have chronic disease.
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So that's sort of my background
and I'm just glad that we can
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share it together and a lot of
these things develop over time,
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and we're going to talk a
lot about the reason why today.
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So you're not a T.V. doctor
and you have a real passion
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for helping people
understand cause and also God's
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design for our lives.
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What inspires you to do all this
on the side rather than just
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go play golf?
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Well you know, probably
because I can't keep the ball
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on the course anyway,
so I don't know, Nick,
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in my worship every
day, I ask for God's will,
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and I say, "God, show me Your
will today, one day at a time."
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And this ministry has developed
and it gives me great joy
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to not only serve other
people, but it makes me a better
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person, a better doctor as
I serve God's will and also,
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I come closer to Him as
I follow Him more closely.
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And, it's such a privilege
to be able to work with
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our heavenly Father with
other health professionals,
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and give them the
ability to share their knowledge
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with other people and it's
just very fulfilling and it's
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sort of one of the things,
I think God is leading me
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and Heartwise
Ministries to do. Yeah.
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Well, I want to go
ahead and put the website out:
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heartwiseministries.org
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If you appreciate
what you hear today,
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if you have
comments or questions,
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go to the website, you
can leave us a note there.
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Dr. Marcum and his team answer
health questions from people,
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and kind of give some
directions and general direction
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for questions
and that's something
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that people really appreciate.
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You can also go on there
and request prayer for your
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particular situation
and our prayer team will
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lift you up in prayer each week.
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And, there are a
few other resources
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there, Dr. Marcum,
that I haven't mentioned.
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Yeah, we want to keep
the relationship going.
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We just don't' want you
to watch a program and it
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to be all over!
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If you heard something
that you want to learn more
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or you might have a
question, well we're accessible.
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One of the things that
we have started monthly is a
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biblical prescription for life
that people can get in their
00:04:35.70\00:04:38.77
home; it doesn't cost anything;
there's no side-effects
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and they can sign
up to get a newsletter.
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We don't share it with
anybody and then they can come
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to our website and get
a biblical prescription
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that they can apply to their
life each month. That's right.
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It's a great source of
information and truth and so
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let's go ahead and jump right
into the discussion and we have,
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actually a viewer's question
that they submitted here...
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This person writes in and asks:
"I'm 42 years old and in good
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health, do I need to
have an annual physical?
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You know, if I'm feeling good,
is that an important thing?
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Yeah, well again, why and
if you think, "Why do I need a
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physical," and if you think
about life, you think about
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life, you know,
"Why do I get older?
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Why do I drive a car?
Why do I brush my teeth?
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Why do I eat every day?
Why do I worship every day?
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You know, Why do I
do the things I do?"
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I think these are
very good questions!
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Now when we ask the
question, "Why?" it stimulates
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the part of our brain
called the, "hippocampus,"
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and all of those memories
and things become activated.
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So as we're sitting here
talking about the reason "why,"
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your brain is probably
turning on all sorts of things.
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You know, if I say, "Well Nick,
why do you ride your bike?"
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You like to ride
your bike. Yeah, sure.
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All those memories are
starting to be turned on,
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and activated in your mind.
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And if I ask the audience
out there, "Well, why are we
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watching this program?"
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There's always a
reason why things happen.
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Sometimes we
understand the reason why;
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sometimes we don't
understand the reason why,
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but we have a God that
understands what He's trying
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to accomplish in our
lives and He wants to be a part
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of what we're doing every day.
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And in answering this question,
"Well why do I need a physical?"
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Well, one of the reasons
that we can have a physical is
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we might detect problems
at an earlier age. Okay?
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For instance, let's say in
the Evenson family, everyone
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loses their
hearing at age 60. Okay?
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It sounds like a bad time
to me, but I'll take it. Yeah.
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Say that's the case.
Yeah, I'm just... I don't know
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if there is and I yell
in your ear all day long...
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I go "NICK, NICK,
WAKE UP, WAKE UP NICK,"
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and I just yell and am
on top of you every day.
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Well that's going to put stress
on your hearing and you might
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have problems with hearing at
age 40, okay? instead of age 60.
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So any type of stress
on our faulty genes...
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we all have bad genes.
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Now, depending on our
ancestors, how bad are they?
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Well let's say you have
bad hearing genes and you put
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stress on that gene, well what
happens is the genetics age.
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Some terms that we might
use, we'd say, "The telomeres
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are shortening;" a terms
called "Oxidation," you know,
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but basically it malfunctions.
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When it malfunctions, you
have a symptom and when you
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have a symptom, guess what?
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Modern medicine is a
great way to treat the symptom,
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but not necessarily the cause.
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Are you
following me? Right. Okay.
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So I might say, "Nick, you've
lost your hearing at age 40,
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you need a hearing aid. Um hm.
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Okay, well that might
happen with your eyes,
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and you need glasses. Um hm.
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You might have that
happening in your heart,
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and you might need a
pacemaker at a younger age
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because that part is just
wearing out and all of the
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stressors through life - all
the stress we put on our body,
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whether it be from mental stress
or not sleeping well stress
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or relationship stress or
the bad food we eat stress,
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or nowadays, we even
have media stress, you know.
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Have you ever seen those
people that are using their cell
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phones every 5 minutes?
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That could actually
cause genetic aging.
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So there are lots of
things that cause us to age
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and have our genes get older
and put stress on our system.
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So let's get back
to this question...
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"Well why do I need a physical?"
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Well your doctor might be
able to identify some of those
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stressors in your life
and identify a problem early
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and you might say,
"Well my blood pressure
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is high," and you found out.
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Well what are
some things I can do
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to really stay on top of that?
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I might be developing diabetes
or I might have an early
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stage of cancer.
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So the doctor will talk to
you about your genetic history
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and say, "Well, what are
things that run in the Evenson's
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family and he might
say, "You can't hear me
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too well, can you?" Right.
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And he says, "Well
you might need to have
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your hearing evaluated."
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You might need to have
your eyes or everyone in
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the Evenson
family had mole cancer
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in the family - a melanoma.
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He might look at
your skin; he might do
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some basic blood work.
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So one of the reasons, at
certain ages to get a general
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physical is just to have someone
objectively look your body over
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to see if you might have
ageing, to see if you might
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have a problem or identify
problems at early stages
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where you can make some
lifestyle changes or do things
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to help you feel better.
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And that might be diabetes,
it might be high cholesterol,
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high blood pressure; you might
be gaining a few extra pounds!
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You know, he might
check you out and you say,
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"Hey man, I've gained
20," and he could say,
00:09:25.93\00:09:27.86
"Well extra fat through
the years is a stressor,
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and that's going to age you."
00:09:30.80\00:09:32.13
Or it might be that you
ride your bike too aggressively.
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You say, "man." Now
this doesn't happen too much
00:09:34.60\00:09:36.97
that people over-exercise.
But it's possible!
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Yes, it is possible or he
might say, "Well, you know,
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you're not sleeping
enough, maybe you need
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to get a little more rest."
00:09:44.21\00:09:46.38
But that's one of the
reasons to get a physical,
00:09:46.41\00:09:48.38
is to just have
someone else... for instance;
00:09:48.42\00:09:50.29
you go to the bank with
your money to get advice
00:09:50.32\00:09:53.19
on your money; you go to
get your teeth looked at,
00:09:53.22\00:09:56.29
you know, just to
get advice on your teeth.
00:09:56.32\00:09:58.43
But this is just a consultant
looking at your overall health
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to give you some
advice to maybe pickup
00:10:01.83\00:10:03.77
problems earlier.
00:10:03.80\00:10:05.13
Now luckily, at our younger
ages, we don't need to go
00:10:05.17\00:10:08.07
into it as much as we
get older because as we get
00:10:08.10\00:10:11.04
older, the parts
get older. Um hm.
00:10:11.07\00:10:13.17
But let's say everyone in
the Evenson family had cancer,
00:10:13.21\00:10:16.14
colon cancer in their
30s, genetically determined.
00:10:16.18\00:10:19.58
And you might meet with
your doctor and he says,
00:10:19.61\00:10:21.48
"Listen, we need to make
sure you don't and to catch this
00:10:21.52\00:10:23.39
early on and I want to
give you some things you can do
00:10:23.42\00:10:26.19
whether it be eat more fiber
or stay away from carcinogens
00:10:26.22\00:10:29.36
at a younger age, so if we
ever do have it, we can find out
00:10:29.39\00:10:33.13
and treat it earlier. Yeah.
00:10:33.16\00:10:34.60
Or it might be that
you have some bad habits,
00:10:34.63\00:10:36.26
and your blood
pressure has gone up.
00:10:36.30\00:10:37.63
So all these things are
why we need to do a physical.
00:10:37.67\00:10:40.54
So let me recap a little
bit here of what we're saying.
00:10:40.57\00:10:42.30
Through generation after
generation, we have different
00:10:42.34\00:10:46.71
genes that are turned on or
turned off and cause different
00:10:46.74\00:10:50.61
illnesses and chronic
diseases within our family line,
00:10:50.65\00:10:53.62
and those things may be
apparent or not apparent
00:10:53.65\00:10:56.38
in us yet at a younger
age, so it's good to go and get
00:10:56.42\00:10:58.59
early detection through a
physical. Right, that's correct.
00:10:58.62\00:11:01.72
And so what are
some of the most common
00:11:01.76\00:11:04.43
chronic diseases that
can be very much beneficial
00:11:04.46\00:11:10.47
if you find them early?
00:11:10.50\00:11:11.83
Well, we have lots of chronic
lifestyle diseases and one of
00:11:11.87\00:11:14.60
them of think about is
diabetes, type 2 diabetes.
00:11:14.64\00:11:17.27
It's estimated in the
United States and worldwide
00:11:17.31\00:11:20.81
that more and more
people are getting it and in the
00:11:20.84\00:11:22.44
states, 1 in 3 will have
this by mid-century. Wow.
00:11:22.48\00:11:25.78
And it costs about $22,000 to
take care of a type 2 diabetic,
00:11:25.81\00:11:31.12
and it's like having acid
in your body, it damages you.
00:11:31.15\00:11:33.79
And if it does it long
enough, you have problems.
00:11:33.82\00:11:36.52
High blood pressure
- the number one cause
00:11:36.56\00:11:39.09
of serious problems down
the road - high blood pressure.
00:11:39.13\00:11:41.90
That's a disease that's chronic.
00:11:41.93\00:11:43.87
Not sleeping well at
night, gaining extra weight,
00:11:43.90\00:11:46.70
sleep apnea - all of
these things are considered
00:11:46.74\00:11:50.34
chronic diseases because
they're like brewing in you
00:11:50.37\00:11:53.41
and if you don't get
attention to this, the stress
00:11:53.44\00:11:56.04
eventually causes a
symptom, you go to the doctor,
00:11:56.08\00:11:59.08
and he deals with the
symptom, but I want to also
00:11:59.11\00:12:01.92
understand the reason WHY,
so we can get at the cause.
00:12:01.95\00:12:05.09
For instance, it might be you
have diabetes because you have
00:12:05.12\00:12:07.99
too much fat or
you don't exercise.
00:12:08.02\00:12:09.36
Or it might be that you
have high blood pressure
00:12:09.39\00:12:10.73
because you eat too
much processed foods.
00:12:10.76\00:12:12.33
So understanding and
asking the reason WHY
00:12:12.36\00:12:15.30
is super, super important
for ALL of us to stay healthy
00:12:15.33\00:12:18.77
and maximize our bodies that
God has given us to use for Him.
00:12:18.80\00:12:22.90
So as a nation here in
North America, let's say...
00:12:23.37\00:12:26.84
What is the general
trend that you've seen...
00:12:26.88\00:12:28.88
just here in a
quick minute, tell us...
00:12:28.91\00:12:30.45
what's the
general trend of health?
00:12:30.48\00:12:32.01
Are we improving as a nation or
00:12:32.05\00:12:34.28
do you think,
maybe we're on a decline?
00:12:34.32\00:12:35.65
Well I want everyone just
to look at the evidence, okay?
00:12:35.68\00:12:39.19
Are people getting better?
00:12:40.19\00:12:42.89
Are we seeing more dementia?
More hypertension, more
00:12:42.92\00:12:46.06
prescription medications, more
people going to the hospital?
00:12:46.09\00:12:48.40
More of the gross domestic
product use on the spinning
00:12:49.06\00:12:52.10
of healthcare, you know?
00:12:52.13\00:12:53.54
And the answer is,
unfortunately; no, we're not
00:12:53.57\00:12:56.40
getting better.
00:12:56.44\00:12:58.04
In fact, it's estimated
that this current generation's
00:12:58.07\00:13:01.08
lifespan will be less
than the one before it.
00:13:01.11\00:13:04.55
So we're getting
chronic diseases;
00:13:04.58\00:13:06.38
we're putting more stress
on our body which is ageing
00:13:06.41\00:13:09.18
our already bad genes,
developing symptoms and then
00:13:09.22\00:13:12.85
we're, you know,
falling into that rut.
00:13:12.89\00:13:15.02
And 80 or 90% of our disease
that we see in the office now
00:13:15.06\00:13:19.16
are from preventable,
reversible chronic conditions
00:13:19.19\00:13:22.26
that we could
help just by moving
00:13:22.30\00:13:23.97
one step at a
time towards health.
00:13:24.00\00:13:25.63
It seems like, you know,
despite our technology and
00:13:25.67\00:13:28.37
research studies
and things out there,
00:13:28.40\00:13:29.74
we're still missing something.
00:13:29.77\00:13:31.11
Yes, and we're going to talk
a little bit more about that
00:13:31.14\00:13:33.54
once we understand the reason
why and we're also going to
00:13:33.58\00:13:36.38
have some
solutions too. That's right!
00:13:36.41\00:13:37.91
After the break
here, in just a moment,
00:13:38.48\00:13:40.28
Dr. Marcus is going
to share about faith
00:13:40.32\00:13:42.38
and the role that that plays
in our health care - stay tuned!
00:13:42.42\00:13:45.05
There's much more to come
on the "Ultimate Prescription."
00:13:45.09\00:13:46.59