Welcome back. I'm your host
Nick Evenson and thank you for
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joining us on the Ultimate
Prescription today where we are
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talking about advances
in medical technology and
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Dr. Marcum we were just
talking about some interesting
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procedures with the heart
and how that these things can be
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really great for emergent care.
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Yeah, and like I said
modern medicine is great for
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emergencies to sort of get
you over the hump. Same with
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medications, get you over the
hump until maybe we can get at
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the cause of disease. So we
talked in the last segment about
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how the heart pumps
blood through the blood vessels
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that supplies the organs. We
need that pressure, we need that
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oxygen. We didn't have all
of these devices when I started.
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We did not have these, but now
we've developed a pump we can
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put into the heart to buy us
some time to perfuse the organs
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so they don't die while we can
work on the heart and maybe help
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a person out with a stent.
Also sometimes the heart gets
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infected and gets weak. We call
that myocarditis or broken heart
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syndrome. We use these devices
to generate blood pressure for
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the organs, give it some time
to heal. We have the external
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devices including the ECMO
which is extracorporeal membrane
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oxygenation, big name.
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ECMO's a lot easier to remember.
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Yeah. Ventricular assist devices
that buy us some time. That's
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really a device that can buy us
some time for transplantation.
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Some people are born with
just congenital abnormalities in
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their hearts. You know there's
a condition that we see in women
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occasionally called peripartum
cardiomyopathy where after they
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give birth their heart gets weak
Infections can cause the heart
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to get weak. You know, the
function doesn't do well. It's
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nothing that the person's done
it's just their genetics and
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it's life and these things
happen. So this is a great place
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to use modern medicine.
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Now I'm sure some of our viewers
are listening to this thinking
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this sounds scary. I don't want
any of those devices to every
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have to be used on me and
we don't either. So prevention
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really is the key.
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Yes it is. If we can prevent
these from happening that's
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much better, but you
know we all have bad genes.
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There's a time and a place.
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Right, you know there are
congenital things that happen.
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We've got modern technology
and now we can help babies with
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congenital heart defects.
There's a condition called
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tetralogy that we can help
tremendously with. I have a
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young lady that came to me
the other day with a congenital
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condition called a coarctation
where the aorta narrows and we
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opened up her aorta so she can
live longer. So there's lots of
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things that we're born with that
we didn't choose to have. So
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modern medicine really has it's
place but it doesn't get at the
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cause of a lot of these things.
So we talked in the last program
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about the different rhythms of
the heart. The heart function,
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you know, the pumping mechanism,
many things are involved in that
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Right. A lot of the time we see
arteries. Unfortunately to this
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day we haven't figures
out a way to replace arteries.
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The arteries get clogged up
we can bypass around them, we
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can stent them but we can't
replace arteries so easily. Now
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we can put the whole new heart
in, but we can't replace the
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arteries. So that's why
lifestyle you know, these
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stressors including the
food stressors, all of that's so
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important to slow down genetic
aging of the arteries. But we
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talked a little about the rhythm
this atrial fibrillation that's
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so common. Now I'm going to quiz
you a little bit Nick just to
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see if you're paying attention
in the past. Oh oh. All right.
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Do you remember what
atrial fibrillation is?
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Yeah it's when the top chambers
of the heart dot like this and
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it's just an erratic
rhythm, sometimes fast.
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Right you got that right.
The question is what is the real
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danger when the heart's
not squeezing rhythmically?
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What's the danger of that?
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So the blood could kind of
get stuck in here and there's a
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little part that particularly
creates clots. Those clots
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develop and get dislodged then
you have an aneurysm, right?
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Well not an aneurysm, no. An
aneurysm's just a weak spot in
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the blood vessels where
they dilate and that's a serious
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problem too. A stress.
Right a stress. So the atrium is
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fibrillating but we have
a little pouch called the
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appendage that clots tend to get
in more. And for all the people
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with atrial fibrillation
unfortunately many people have
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it now. It's an aging rhythm
it's the most common rhythm
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lots of heart things can cause
it. When people have it one of
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the dangerous things about
it is a stroke. And it's been
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estimated that one in three
strokes come from this rhythm.
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So we have lots of medicines
that we talked about before but
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some people cannot take
medicines. They either have side
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effects that are bad or they
have bleeding elsewhere in the
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body. Like if you have a stomach
bleed, I can't give you a blood
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thinner medicine. If you've bled
in the head, I can't give you a
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blood thinner medicine. If
you've fallen down a lot I can't
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give you a blood thinning
medicine. So now recently
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there's a new procedure that
we can do to limit the clots and
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it's called the Watchman.
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Yeah, now we've got a video
clip of this and I'd like you to
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just tell us what's going on
here in the Watchman procedure.
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Well this is, again, put through
the blood vessels in our body
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so we don't have to cut. That's
sort of what it looks like
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before it goes in. So we move
this through the blood vessels,
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this is how we get to the heart.
And we put it in. The patient's
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awake, they're just mildly
sedated and what we see is we
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up inside the atrium. So we find
the atrium. That's the atrium,
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what it looks like from the
inside. We cross from one side
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of the atrium to the other to
the left atrium and then we sort
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of look around to make sure
we're positioned carefully and
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we have catheters and wires that
get us where we need to go and
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we look at the different things
and the way that we do that
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is we put a little dye out
there in it to make sure we're
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positioned correctly. So there's
a little dye to make sure we're
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in the correct spot; that's
called the appendage. We're in
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the correct spot so we inflate
this device; it's called the
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Watchman and see how
it closes off that area.
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So the appendage is a place
where clots develop commonly.
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And we place that securely.
We make sure it's in the right
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place with some dye. And now the
place where most of the clots
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come from in atrial fibrillation
the clots can't get out and over
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time that's what it will
look like from the inside out.
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The body puts a covering of
skin over that that's called the
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endothelium and that lowers the
risk of people with afib that
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can't take blood
thinners from developing a clot.
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So then, you may not know the
answer to this, but what is the
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appendage there for?
Does it serve a purpose?
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Well you know I assume that
it helps in the pumping of blood
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throughout the body. I'm sure
that God had a purpose for it.
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You know like the appendix.
No one's really quite sure what
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that's there for. But we can do
without the appendage. It's not
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something that we have to have.
Just like we don't have to have
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our appendix for life. And there
are other things that we don't
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have to have to live. But I'm
sure it's there for some reason
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or it was at some point to
help the heart function better.
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It does do some pumping in
itself, the blood gets in it and
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it does do a little bit of
pumping. But it's sort of a sack
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that clots can get in. And it's
sort of a baggy area that most
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of the clots in atrial
fibrillation come from.
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So this is a place where modern
medicine can help. Let's say
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you've had atrial fibrillation
for years and it's because it
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runs in your family. And
you come to my office and you've
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been on it for years, haven't
had a stroke, thank goodness.
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Or maybe you've had a
little stroke and you don't want
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another one and you've been on
blood thinners successfully for
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five or ten years. But something
else in the body gets older.
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Let's say you have a little
bleeding in the bowels, okay,
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and it's not safe to put you on
the blood thinners, or you get
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older and you're falling a lot
and it's not safe. However you
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don't want to take the
added risk of stroke because the
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atrial fibrillation is still
there. So we would say, hey,
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listen you know we can lower
your risk of stroke dramatically
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with this Watchman procedure.
So we would schedule you to have
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this Watchman procedure and
you'd still have to be on blood
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thinners for a while because
there's clots that can form.
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We'd have you on it for a while
and then eventually though we
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could stop the blood thinners
and that would lower the risk
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of bleeding again from another
source. So that's the use of
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modern technology really to help
people with atrial fibrillation
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lower the risk
of having a stroke.
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Yeah. I'd say in a situation
like that if I needed it I would
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be very happy that the Watchman
procedure was available.
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Yeah, well it's pretty high tech
but, like I said, there is a
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place for medications for
emergencies or parts that wear
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out like the electrical
system that wears out and atrial
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fibrillation or medical problems
trigger the atrial fibrillation.
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Yeah, now we've talked about
electrical systems of the heart
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in previous programs, but
what are some developments in
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pacemakers and defibrillators?
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Well pacemakers you know when
the wires get old and they go
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too slow pacemakers are great.
Some people die prematurely
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just because the wires get old
first and everything gets old at
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different speeds based on your
mom and dad and the stress you
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put on your genes. So let's
say I've had people in their 40s
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that the first thing that wore
out was the wires of their heart
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Well we can put in pacemakers.
We didn't have them 200 years
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ago, the people would die young.
But now we can extend their life
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just by putting in pacemakers.
They've gotten smaller and
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smaller, more safe to put in.
We even have pacemakers that are
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small like ticks that can
be implanted into a heart and
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there's no wires at all. These
aren't the best ones and these
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are really for people that
are very, very sick and can't
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undergo procedures. But
the technology of pacemaking...
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Not only do we have pacemakers
but we can control them. We can
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look at the battery, how
long they last. We've made them
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smaller and compatible so people
can exercise and do things with
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them. The original pacemakers
were very big and bulky. Now
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they are small. It used to
be since they were magnetic they
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had to stay away from magnetic
fields like MRIs, but now we've
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made them MRI compatible.
It's pretty amazing what the
00:10:02.93\00:10:08.80
pacemakers have done to keep
the electrical system that's
00:10:08.84\00:10:11.57
going too slow, or the wires
that wear out, or the battery
00:10:11.61\00:10:14.71
that wears out to keep a heart
going and a person living longer
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So we have a lot
of neat technology.
00:10:18.28\00:10:20.12
Yeah, a lot of great
advancements that can
00:10:20.15\00:10:21.55
be of benefit to our viewers
there. I want to get to the
00:10:21.58\00:10:25.09
Biblical prescription because,
well technology continues to
00:10:25.12\00:10:28.29
change. We know that God's word
doesn't change and it's always
00:10:28.32\00:10:32.16
relevant, so Dr. Marcum if
you'd share with us a Biblical
00:10:32.19\00:10:33.53
prescription today.
00:10:33.56\00:10:34.90
Yeah I want to take us... You
know Biblical prescriptions are
00:10:34.93\00:10:37.37
something that we can depend on
for life. They're something that
00:10:37.40\00:10:40.87
don't change that we can use
every single day because God's
00:10:40.90\00:10:44.54
word is our true source of
strength and our true source
00:10:44.57\00:10:48.98
of healing. So I want to
turn us to 2 Timothy 1:7...
00:10:49.01\00:11:02.19
So God didn't make us to be
scared and frightened and if we
00:11:02.22\00:11:07.30
think about it our world is
filled with more things to be
00:11:07.33\00:11:11.20
scared about all the time. I
was listening to the news and
00:11:11.23\00:11:14.90
reading the newspaper. We have
wars everywhere, we have people
00:11:14.94\00:11:18.54
that are sick. We have all sorts
of things that cause different
00:11:18.57\00:11:22.31
types of people being scared.
And that turns on the stress
00:11:22.34\00:11:26.92
chemistry which causes our
brains to actually downshift.
00:11:26.95\00:11:30.12
So when we're downshifting our
body we just want to stay alive.
00:11:30.15\00:11:33.76
So we make a lot of these
chemicals like adrenaline and
00:11:33.79\00:11:36.83
cortisol and leukotrienes and
cytokines that actually cause
00:11:36.86\00:11:39.66
us to get older,
00:11:39.69\00:11:41.86
turns on our bad genetics,
causes us to age. Then we need
00:11:41.90\00:11:47.37
the place for modern medicine
because things get old and wear
00:11:47.40\00:11:51.37
out, like we talked about today.
00:11:51.41\00:11:52.74
I've experienced that in my own
life. When I get stressed out
00:11:52.77\00:11:54.74
about something I'm working on
you know if I just put my head
00:11:54.78\00:11:57.68
down and say okay I'm going
to do this myself, it generally
00:11:57.71\00:12:00.48
doesn't go as well as if I
just like relax and be like Lord
00:12:00.52\00:12:04.15
guide me through this. Help me
not be stressed. Help me to be
00:12:04.19\00:12:07.99
focused and to be productive
rather than just getting
00:12:08.02\00:12:10.99
stressed and causing all these
negative chemicals in my body.
00:12:11.03\00:12:13.23
So that's not how we're created
but He wants us to have power
00:12:13.26\00:12:16.26
and love and sound mind. How
do we get that. Well from being
00:12:16.30\00:12:18.90
with Him. By beholding we become
changed. To know God is to love
00:12:18.93\00:12:23.44
love God. So it gets back to our
worship, how we can change our
00:12:23.47\00:12:27.14
chemistry. We can turn off some
of this fear and anxiety that's
00:12:27.18\00:12:30.51
causing our bodies to
malfunction. So I think
00:12:30.55\00:12:33.08
this is a great
Biblical prescription.
00:12:33.11\00:12:37.09
Well, Dr. Marcum, we're getting
to the end of the program here,
00:12:37.12\00:12:38.45
but I want to thank you
for sharing with us about more
00:12:38.49\00:12:40.49
advancements in technology
in the medical space. Friends if
00:12:40.52\00:12:44.89
you would like to learn more
about Biblical prescriptions and
00:12:44.93\00:12:47.86
find more truths that
don't change, find constant
00:12:47.90\00:12:50.87
inspiration in God's word
go to HeartwiseMinistries.org.
00:12:50.90\00:12:55.40
You can find our Biblical
prescriptions app that you can
00:12:55.44\00:12:58.54
download there. It's available
as a free download on both IOS
00:12:58.57\00:13:02.54
indoor platforms and I hope
you tie into God's word every
00:13:02.58\00:13:05.58
day and it'll just prompt you
to trust in God and don't stress
00:13:05.61\00:13:09.62
over the cares of this world.
That's all we've got for today.
00:13:09.65\00:13:12.35
I'm your host Nick Evenson.
Thank you for joining us.
00:13:12.39\00:13:14.09
Dr. Marcum will close
the program with prayer in
00:13:14.12\00:13:16.22
just a moment.
00:13:16.26\00:13:17.93
¤ ¤
00:13:17.96\00:13:22.73
We've talked about how modern
technology has changed, but one
00:13:22.76\00:13:25.93
thing that hasn't changed is
God and our relationship that we
00:13:25.97\00:13:28.94
can have today with Him. Let's
end our program today in prayer.
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Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
for being our Lord and Savior
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and for healing us in your time.
Help us to use modern medicine
00:13:37.01\00:13:42.18
and technology
appropriately Father and
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continue to go with us and give
us peace is our prayer today.
00:13:44.79\00:13:48.02
Amen. You might have questions
00:13:48.06\00:13:51.06
regarding anything related to
cardiovascular disease. Join us
00:13:51.09\00:13:54.43
at our website. That's
HeartwiseMinistries.org
00:13:54.46\00:13:58.20
¤ ¤
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