It Is Written

Risk Factors

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

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Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW001280


00:00 [theme music]
00:07 It has stood the test of time.
00:12 God's book, the Bible.
00:17 Still relevant in today's complex world.
00:22 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe.
00:36 JB: I'm John Bradshaw, and this is It Is Written.
00:39 Thanks for joining me.
00:41 The Bible speaks a lot about the heart.
00:45 Now really it uses the heart to represent the mind,
00:48 and the Bible often says things like, "You shall love the Lord
00:51 your God with all your heart."
00:53 That's Matthew 22:37.
00:54 "Create in me a clean heart, O God."
00:57 Psalm 51, verse 10.
00:58 And in Jeremiah 29, verse 13, "And you will see me
01:02 and find me when you search for me with all your heart."
01:08 But in the same time, your actual physical heart
01:11 is important to God as well.
01:12 The Bible says your body is the temple of the Holy
01:15 Spirit.
01:16 You were created to be God's dwelling place.
01:19 The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6, in verse 20,
01:22 "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify
01:26 God in your body and in your spirit which are God's."
01:31 Glorify God in your body.
01:35 So let's talk about a massive physical challenge people
01:37 are having today.
01:38 Heart disease is the leading killer in the United States
01:41 and many other western countries and has been
01:44 for over 100 years.
01:46 Yet it doesn't need to be.
01:48 I went to Kettering, Ohio, to speak with cardiologist
01:51 Dr. Brian Schwartz.
01:52 Everyday, Dr. Schwartz works with patients who have heart
01:56 trouble.
01:57 As a Christian physician, he understands that God made
02:00 people, as David said in the Psalms, "fearfully
02:03 and wonderfully."
02:05 Together, Dr. Schwartz and I discussed heart disease:
02:08 what it is and what a person can do to not only avoid it,
02:12 but also to reverse it.
02:14 And we discussed the risk factors that lead to major
02:17 trouble in the temple.
02:21 [music] JB: Dr. Schwartz, let's start at the beginning.
02:26 Heart disease: that's a big term, almost a catchall
02:30 phrase.
02:31 What's heart disease?
02:32 BS: Well, first of all, the heart is the organ right in
02:34 the middle of our chest that pumps all the blood
02:37 to the rest of the body.
02:38 So, disease of the heart is a broad category that you
02:42 can lump anything that affects the heart under.
02:44 JB: Such as?
02:45 BS: Most commonly, it's coronary artery disease,
02:47 which is plaque buildup of the arteries that supply
02:50 the heart itself.
02:52 So, not only does the heart supply blood to all the rest
02:55 of the organs, but it actually has to pump blood
02:58 through the arteries to the heart muscle itself
03:00 to keep it going.
03:01 JB: And part of the problem is, you have these, let's say
03:03 an artery is around like, plaque buildup ends up
03:06 making the arteries smaller.
03:07 BS: Exactly.
03:09 So, plaque is made up of inflammation.
03:12 So there will be inflammatory blood cells,
03:14 like white blood cells, and cholesterol deposits.
03:17 Little fatty deposits that occur in the artery.
03:19 And it will take the artery and just gradually it will
03:22 narrow.
03:23 JB: And once it narrows, the blood's not getting through.
03:26 What happens?
03:27 BS: You'll start having symptoms that tell us your
03:29 heart's not getting enough blood.
03:31 The most classic symptom is to start getting
03:33 a pressure-like pain in your chest, almost like a squeezing
03:36 sensation.
03:37 Some people describe it as like an elephant
03:39 sitting on their chest.
03:40 JB: Is that angina?
03:41 BS: That's what's called angina.
03:43 JB: It's very common.
03:44 BS: One out of every two Americans over the age of 45
03:46 has some plaque buildup in their arteries.
03:48 JB: How many people are going to end up with a heart
03:51 disease issue, they're going to go and see the doctor
03:53 because of heart disease?
03:54 BS: Over 80 million Americans will have some
03:58 form of heart disease.
04:00 That can include blockages of the heart arteries, it can
04:03 include a weak heart that doesn't pump very well,
04:06 called congestive heart failure, and also
04:08 hypertension and stroke.
04:10 That also is related to the same process.
04:13 JB: Which makes heart disease this country's
04:15 number one killer, am I right?
04:17 BS: Heart disease has been the number one killer since
04:19 1900, and it hasn't changed.
04:20 JB: How do you know you might have heart disease?
04:22 There are risk factors.
04:24 I've heard this phrase "risk factors."
04:26 BS: Number one, that's not one of the standard risk
04:28 factors, is living in America.There are areas
04:31 in the whole world, like rural China and New Guinea
04:34 and Africa, where populations that hardly eat any meat
04:38 have zero incidence of heart disease.
04:41 JB: That's interesting.
04:42 BS: In fact, I'll tell you an interesting story.
04:44 I was on a mission trip about eight years ago now to
04:47 the country of Zambia.
04:48 And they have one big university hospital on
04:51 Zambia, and there's one cardiologist, one heart
04:53 doctor for the whole country.
04:56 And so, I was there giving some lectures at the medical
04:59 school, and I stopped there and talked to the heart
05:01 doctor, and I said, "So, by the way, when is the last
05:04 time that you've had a person come in to
05:06 this hospital with a heart attack?"
05:08 She had to stop and think a little bit, and she said,
05:10 "I think that was about two years ago."
05:12 Turns out it was an overweight American Aid
05:14 worker.
05:15 They just don't see heart disease in countries that do
05:17 not have our rich American diet.
05:20 JB: Which is really interest.
05:22 That means then, as we're watching this program
05:24 and listening to what you're saying, if I had heart
05:26 issues there's a very good chance--I'm not going to say
05:28 this is true for everybody--but there's
05:30 a very good chance that I don't have to be suffering
05:32 from the heart issues that I might be suffering with.
05:34 BS: Absolutely.
05:35 So, there are some genetic diseases and some bad things
05:38 that can happen.
05:39 You can get a virus that affects the heart or things
05:42 that you had no control over.
05:44 But for 90 percent of the diseases that I treat
05:46 every single day, we bring them on ourselves by the way
05:48 we live.
05:49 JB: Okay, what are the risk factors?
05:51 You mentioned one: living in America.
05:53 What are the others?
05:54 BS: Yeah.
05:55 Classically there are six risk factors.
05:57 Five of them, you can do something about.
05:59 JB: Which one can you not do anything about?
06:01 Is that genetics?
06:02 BS: Number one is genetics.
06:03 So, your family history, you were born with the genes
06:05 that you share with your brothers and sisters,
06:07 and you can't do anything about that.
06:09 So, if you have one or both parents who had a heart
06:11 attack or died of a heart attack before the age of 55,
06:13 that makes you at much higher risk.
06:15 JB: So, what should you do about that?
06:17 BS: Make sure you're getting regular screenings and treating
06:19 those other five risk factors.
06:20 JB: So, just don't ignore it.
06:21 Don't ignore it, and take good care of yourself.
06:23 BS: Exactly.
06:24 It's not all genetic.
06:25 Some of it is just the family traits that you've learned
06:27 growing up, when you saw rich eating of lots
06:30 of creamy, fatty foods.
06:32 You saw them smoking, you weren't very active.
06:35 Those are things we learned growing up.
06:37 But what obesity does, is it also makes you much more
06:39 likely to have high blood pressure.
06:41 Much more likely to have diabetes.
06:43 You're much more likely to be sedentary and not very
06:47 active, so obesity seems to be kind of at the root of a lot
06:50 of these other causes.
06:52 And by treating the obesity and getting your weight
06:55 down, you dramatically reduce your risk for heart
06:57 attack for anginal pains in the future.
07:00 JB: People can lose weight.
07:01 BS: We can control how much calories we put in through
07:04 what we eat, but also how many calories we burn by how
07:06 active we are.
07:07 And if you're addressing both of those things,
07:09 cutting out the fatty foods, especially foods like red
07:12 beets, and cheese and ice cream, and things that are
07:16 really rich in calories, and increasing activity,
07:19 oftentimes that will lead to a weight loss by doing those
07:22 simple things.
07:23 JB: Obesity.
07:24 BS: Yes.
07:25 JB: What's the next one?
07:26 BS: Well, hypertension is an elevation of the blood
07:28 pressure.
07:29 So, the heart is what generates the blood
07:31 pressure.
07:32 It's pumping the blood with every single squeeze into
07:35 those arteries.
07:36 And those arteries can be constricted because we're
07:38 stressed or because there's plaque buildup.
07:41 Or, they can be relaxed.
07:43 And as the plaque develops in the heart arteries, but
07:45 also throughout all the arteries in the body, those
07:48 tubes, those arteries that carry the blood, become very
07:50 stiff and very rigid, and they can't relax.
07:52 And then the blood pressure starts going up.
07:54 JB: What can I do about that, if I have high blood
07:57 pressure?
07:58 BS: So, if you have high blood pressure, again look
08:00 at the underlying causes.
08:01 It may be related to being overweight.
08:03 Exercise hps lower your blood pressure.
08:06 Dealing with stress in your life has a big effect.
08:09 It reduces the amount of adrenaline, or the circulating
08:13 catecholamines that cause those arteries to constrict.
08:16 So, stress can raise it.
08:18 And exercise actually has a calming effect, so it can
08:21 help reduce the stress by just doing exercise.
08:25 Some of the things we eat.
08:26 If you eat a lot of salt and you're sensitive to salt,
08:28 that's going to make your blood pressure go up.
08:31 And, there's some genetic predispositions
08:33 for that as well.
08:34 JB: Obesity, hypertension.
08:37 These are risk factors for heart disease.
08:39 BS: That's right.
08:40 Hyperlipidemia.
08:41 JB: Hyperlipidemia, that's high cholesterol.
08:43 BS: High cholesterol.
08:44 Believe it or not, even without eating cholesterol
08:46 your liver can synthesize cholesterol.
08:48 And there is a gene that can, or several genes
08:50 actually, that can synthesize cholesterol
08:53 and lead to high elevated levels of cholesterol
08:56 and triglycerides and these different fatty acids that can
08:59 be deposited in the arteries.
09:01 JB: So some of this can be genetic.
09:03 BS: It can still also be genetic.
09:05 So, there is a role for medications if you have a
09:07 very bad genetic problem.
09:10 But most of the cholesterol problems we see in America
09:12 are related to what we eat.
09:14 I say to my patients, that pretty much comes from
09:16 animal products.
09:18 Meats, cheese, dairy, especially red meats is
09:23 laden with saturated fat.
09:24 Saturated fat gets converted to bad cholesterol.
09:28 LDL cholesterol and other small particles.
09:31 Those then circulate through the bloodstream, and if there's
09:33 inflammation in the arteries, then those little fatty droplets
09:37 get deposited underneath the lining of the artery.
09:40 The artery is made up of three little layers,
09:42 and underneath the intima, the innermost layer,
09:45 you get these deposits of fat.
09:47 And they just start building up gradually as the vessel
09:50 gets tighter and tighter and tighter.
09:52 And generally that's a gradual process, but if you get
09:58 a big core of that cholesterol deposit--what we call
10:01 a lipid core--that can just suddenly rupture.
10:06 And when it ruptures, you get platelets building up
10:09 and that can lead to a heart attack.
10:11 It can just shut down the artery and boom!
10:13 It just closes suddenly, you get crushing pain in
10:15 the chest, and about half the time the first symptom
10:17 is just to have sudden cardiac death, where you just
10:19 collapse on the floor because your heart stops.
10:21 We know that not all fat is bad fat.
10:24 JB: Right.
10:25 I hear about this good cholesterol, bad
10:27 cholesterol; good fat, bad fat.
10:29 BS: Good fat, bad fat.
10:30 And it's not just the problem with cholesterol
10:32 that leads to the problem with atherosclerosis
10:34 or plaque buildup in the arteries, it's also
10:36 driven by inflammation.
10:37 So, certain viruses, some of the foods we eat, drive
10:41 the inflammatory process and that's what leads to these
10:44 fatty deposits.
10:45 So, the other thing I tell my patients is there is good
10:49 cholesterol and bad cholesterol.
10:51 Bad cholesterol is made in the liver; it circulates
10:53 in the bloodstream and it gets deposited in the arteries,
10:56 wherever there is inflammation.
10:58 Good cholesterol, on the other hand, called HDL,
11:01 gets made in the liver but it goes through the arteries
11:06 and it actually scavenges the fat back out of them
11:09 and gets deposited back in the liver where it can
11:11 be excreted.
11:12 So, you want as much good cholesterol as you can get,
11:14 and as little bad cholesterol as you can get.
11:16 JB: Where do you get good cholesterol?
11:18 BS: So, good cholesterol comes from two things: your
11:20 body can make it; exercise helps stimulate it; but also
11:23 plant-based fats are high in good cholesterol, as well
11:26 as some fish supplements.
11:28 JB: What are plant-based fats?
11:31 Such as, I'm thinking of avocado, am I right?
11:33 BS: Yeah, avocado is higher.
11:34 Almonds, walnuts are very high sources.
11:39 Flax seed is very high.
11:40 And we call these omega 3 fatty acids, and they actually
11:44 lead to HLA, which is a type of fatty acid that's the helpful
11:49 type of fat.
11:50 JB: Not only is that good for you, but it draws the bad
11:52 cholesterol out.
11:53 BS: Absolutely.
11:54 It can help reduce and offset the effects
11:56 of the bad cholesterol.
11:57 JB: Oh, I like that.
12:00 [music] JB: In my discussion with cardiologist Dr. Brian
12:06 Schwartz, what can you do to get your heart right,
12:09 and get your heart right?
12:11 We'll find out more in just a moment.
12:16 >: In Matthew 4:4, the Word of God says, "It is written,
12:19 man shall not live by bread alone but by every word
12:23 that proceeds from the mouth of God."
12:25 "Every Word" is a one-minute, Bible-based
12:28 daily devotional, presented by Pastor John Bradshaw
12:31 and designed especially for busy people like you.
12:34 Look for "Every Word" on selected networks,
12:37 or watch it online every day on our website.
12:39 ItIsWritten.com.
12:41 Receive a daily spiritual boost.
12:43 Watch "Every Word."
12:45 You'll be glad you did.
12:46 Here's a sample.
12:50 [music]
12:57 JB: Go to any major bookstore, and you'll find
12:59 plenty of books on the subject of raising children.
13:01 And some of those books might even contain some
13:03 useful advice.
13:05 But probably the best thing you can do for a child
13:07 is mentioned in 2 Timothy 3, verse 15.
13:10 Paul says to the young church leader, Timothy,
13:12 "From childhood you have known the holy Scriptures,
13:15 which are able to make you wise for salvation through
13:17 faith, which is in Christ Jesus."
13:20 When a mind is young, you want to put the very best
13:23 into it.
13:24 And the best you can put into a mind is God's Word.
13:27 You can give your kids advice, and model the best
13:29 and most virtuous behavior, but the best thing for a child
13:32 is to be connected to God, and to know the Word of God.
13:36 If there are children in your life, do the very best
13:38 for them and encourage them to know God's Word
13:41 for themselves.
13:42 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written.
13:46 Let's live today by every word.
13:49 JB: This is It Is Written.
13:51 I'm John Bradshaw, and today, my discussion
13:53 is with cardiologist Dr. Brian Schwartz.
13:56 I went to Kettering, Ohio, to find out from Dr. Schwartz
13:59 what the risk factors are for heart disease.
14:03 We also talked about the risk factors in terms of our heart,
14:07 spiritually speaking.
14:08 How can we be well physically and well
14:11 spiritually, as well?
14:12 It's important, because the Bible says the body is
14:15 the temple of the Holy Spirit.
14:17 Here's more of my conversation with Dr. Schwartz.
14:25 What's the next risk factor for heart disease,
14:27 after Hyperlipidemia?
14:28 BS: I think we talked about obesity, hypertension,
14:31 Hyperlipidemia, the next one I think would be stress.
14:35 JB: What can we do about stress?
14:37 BS: Well, we live in a very high-charged world.
14:39 There's no way you're going to avoid stress completely,
14:41 and in fact, it's probably not healthy to have no
14:43 stress whatsoever in your life.
14:45 It's how we deal with the stress that's the problem.
14:48 Sometimes we just hold it inside, and you can just feel
14:51 like the stress is internalized and you can't get rid of it.
14:56 That's the kind of stress that leads to the high
14:58 levels of the adrenaline circulating through your
15:01 bloodstream.
15:02 That causes the blood vessels to constrict.
15:04 It just makes you feel tired and worn out.
15:06 So, one of the best things to do, I tell my patients
15:09 it would be helpful to be in a support group.
15:11 Encourage them, that could be at church, it could
15:15 be at a community activity, around family, things like that
15:19 help relieve stress.
15:20 Exercise helps relieve stress.
15:22 It actually helps release all those adrenaline stores,
15:25 so you get this big surge, but then after you exercise,
15:28 you get more of a relaxing effect.
15:30 And so, it can be very beneficial to exercise.
15:33 JB: Scientifically, are we more stressed today as a society
15:36 than we were 50-60 years ago?
15:37 BS: We know that 50 years ago, we didn't have the high
15:42 divorce rates; we had more likely a family structure;
15:46 very likely the father went to work, the mother stayed
15:48 at home with the children.
15:49 Now, both parents are out working, and she's still got
15:51 to come back and do the same things at home.
15:53 We just live in a supercharged environment.
15:56 In order to make those bills, you might have to be
15:58 holding down 2, 3, 4 jobs instead of one job.
16:01 And there's no security that you're going to keep
16:03 your job anymore.
16:04 It could be here today and gone tomorrow.
16:06 So, very stressful.
16:07 JB: Now, spiritually speaking bout stress,
16:09 God has some treatments for stress, doesn't He?
16:13 I'm thinking in the Bible, Jesus said, "Come to me all
16:16 ye that labor and are heavy laden; I will give you rest."
16:18 BS: Yes.
16:19 JB: As a Christian physician, talk a little bit
16:23 about God's prescription for stress.
16:25 What God offers us, how faith in God helps.
16:28 BS: Yes.
16:29 Absolutely.
16:29 I think it makes a huge difference to have faith
16:31 in God, and in fact as a physician, I offer to pray
16:35 with every one of my patients that comes to my office,
16:37 because I think that's very, very important.
16:39 And as a result of addressing that spiritual need
16:43 and praying that God will bless my patients, that
16:46 He'll be there to help them make change, I've had many
16:48 patients come in to my office and say it's because
16:51 you prayed for me that I was able to give up smoking.
16:53 It's because you prayed for me that I was able
16:55 to start exercising.
16:56 That I was able to cut out most of the meat in my diet.
17:00 So, they've been able to make powerful changes
17:02 because of the power of prayer.
17:04 Just being part of a spiritual community helps with stress.
17:08 And I believe that taking time to rest.
17:10 The Bible encourage us to take a day off every week to
17:13 rest.
17:14 I also tell my patients I won't ask them to do anything
17:16 I don't do myself, and so, I exercise regularly.
17:21 I ran a marathon two years ago, and I still run about
17:24 20 miles a week, spread out over three or four days
17:27 a week.
17:28 I'm a vegetarian.
17:29 I don't eat any meat in my diet.
17:31 I don't drink; I don't smoke.
17:33 I try to take time spiritually to be reenergized
17:36 with time with God every day.
17:39 And I take off one day a week to rest.
17:41 JB: Now, we've still got a couple of risk factors
17:43 left to go.
17:44 We've talked about four, must be I think two more.
17:46 What are they?
17:47 BS: So, smoking and sedentary lifestyle.
17:50 JB: What is it about smoking that's so bad?
17:53 BS: It increases our cancer risk, but specifically
17:56 in talking about heart disease, what I deal with every day,
17:58 it's one of the top leading risk factors.
18:02 Not only, if you have high blood pressure plus you smoke,
18:05 you don't just double your risk, it has a huge multiplying
18:08 effect.
18:09 So, it's really toxic to the arteries.
18:11 So, I mentioned that it's not just the cholesterol
18:14 circulating through our arteries that's a problem.
18:17 Those arteries have to become inflamed.
18:19 And nicotine and the hazards that come through cigarette
18:24 smoke inflames the arteries.
18:27 Even smoking one cigarette can increase your risk
18:29 for a heart attack in the following days after
18:32 doing that.
18:33 Even being around secondhand smoke increases your risk
18:35 for a heart attack for nearly 40 percent.
18:37 So, smoking is a huge risk for developing
18:41 atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.
18:43 And nicotine in tobacco is very addictive.
18:45 In some studies it shows that it's actually more
18:47 addictive than cocaine, so it makes it very difficult
18:54 once you've become addicted to break that habit.
18:56 JB: What's the best way to break the habit?
18:58 What are the best ways?
18:59 BS: Unfortunately, if you ask your average doctor how
19:02 effective are you at getting your patients to quit
19:05 smoking, the answer would be not very effective.
19:08 Historically the success rates are probably about 30
19:11 percent.
19:12 Now, I see a lot of patients who have already had a heart
19:14 attack, and you would think that once they've had a heart
19:17 attack that's going to motivate change.
19:19 JB: You'd think.
19:20 BS: To some degree that helps, but the honest truth.
19:23 What we talked about when we talked about the spiritual
19:25 side, the thing that I've seen make the biggest
19:28 difference is when I specifically pray for my patient
19:31 to ask the Lord to give them the desire to take away
19:35 that urge to smoke and to help them develop the willpower
19:38 to be able to overcome that habit.
19:40 That makes more difference than anything.
19:42 I have more patients say to me, it's because you prayed
19:44 with me that I was able to stop smoking.
19:46 People who have tried the nicotine gum and have tried
19:48 the patch and have tried other things to try to quit.
19:50 We see a real strength in the power of prayer.
19:55 JB: I'm reminded of some Bible verses.
19:57 "With God all things are possible.
19:59 BS: That's right.
20:00 JB: "It is God who works in you both to will and to do
20:02 for his good pleasure."
20:03 So trust in God, must be a great help.
20:05 BS: Absolutely.
20:07 It helps bring about change.
20:09 Patients literally sense that it gives them
20:12 an increased desire, and they find within them
20:15 the capacity to make the changes that they weren't able to make
20:18 as a result of prayer.
20:21 [music]
20:25 JB: It Is Written is dedicated to sharing
20:27 the gospel around the world.
20:28 To discover more about It Is Written, I invite you
20:31 to visit our website, ItIsWritten.com, and brose
20:34 the dozens of pages that describe what we do and how
20:37 we do it.
20:38 Let's get to know each other better.
20:40 Visit our website, ItIsWritten.com, today.
20:45 JB: One more risk factor, what is that?
20:47 BS: Sedentary lifestyle.
20:48 JB: Oh, okay.
20:49 BS: In a recent survey, 40 percent of all Americans
20:52 admit that they do absolutely zero physical exercise.
20:56 JB: Forty percent.
20:57 BS: If you don't exercise, you're more likely
20:59 to be obese.
21:00 If you're obese, you're more likely to have diabetes
21:02 and hypertension.
21:03 If you're under stress, you're more likely to smoke.
21:05 If you're under stress, you're more likely to feed
21:07 that stress by eating to help you just feel relaxed.
21:09 And they're all interrelated to lifestyle.
21:13 In the "Lancet," one of the prestigious
21:15 British medical journals, they suggested that lack
21:18 of exercise if one of the number one leading
21:21 causes of death worldwide.
21:22 JB: Let's talk about diabetes as a risk factor
21:25 for heart disease as well.
21:26 BS: It used to be a disease of adults.
21:30 Now it's becoming very commonly diagnosed
21:32 in children.
21:34 Diabetes is a problem with our body's ability
21:36 to handle extra glucose, extra sugar.
21:41 Typically we think of it as coming from just eating too
21:44 much sweets, but it's really a problem with being able
21:47 to handle too many calories, regardless of the source.
21:51 As people gain weight, it's a sign that they're eating
21:54 more calories than they need.
21:56 The body can't handle that, and so that gets released
21:59 to the bloodstream as extra levels of glucose, extra
22:02 sugar circulating through the bloodstream.
22:05 And then that gets deposited as fat and it becomes
22:07 a vicious cycle.
22:08 Too many calories converted to fat get bigger.
22:11 The bigger we get, the less the body can handle the glucose,
22:14 and that leads to diabetes.
22:15 JB: What do we do about heart disease?
22:18 We've talked about this as we go along a little bit,
22:20 but if we were going to start listing some
22:22 treatments, some self-treatments, what
22:24 a person can do to avoid it, where would we begin?
22:27 BS: Probably to get a checkup with your physician.
22:29 It's good to know your numbers; you need to know what
22:31 your blood pressure is.
22:33 And ideally the blood pressure should be
22:37 less than 130/80.
22:38 You need to know what your cholesterol numbers are.
22:40 You want that total cholesterol to be below,
22:44 ideally below 200.
22:45 You want your triglycerides to be as low as possible
22:48 but definitely below 150.
22:51 You want that bad cholesterol, the LDL
22:53 cholesterol, to be below 100.
22:55 And you want that good cholesterol to be as high
22:57 as possible: in a male, at least above 45 and in
23:00 a female we like to see it up above 60.
23:02 In fact, if people already have heart disease,
23:07 if we can treat those risk factors, and we can get that
23:10 LDL cholesterol all the way down below 70, by diet,
23:13 exercise and even medications, and get that good
23:15 cholesterol up above 45, we now have scientific
23:18 evidence that you can start reversing that plaque.
23:21 You can actually open up the arteries
23:24 and your body can actually naturally start sucking
23:26 the cholesterol deposits, the calcium and all the things
23:29 that make up that plaque out of the artery
23:31 and actually gradually restore that vessel.
23:34 JB: So, in some cases heart disease can be reversed.
23:36 BS: Absolutely.
23:39 [music]
23:43 JB: And heart disease is about as serious as it gets.
23:45 But related to this, there's something else.
23:48 Now, let me ask you: how is it with your heart today?
23:52 If you're having heart challenges physically,
23:55 you're now better equipped to do something about that.
23:58 But what if you're having heart challenges
24:00 spiritually?
24:02 There are risk factors for your spiritual life, too.
24:04 There's an enemy who wants you to have a spiritual
24:07 heart attack.
24:08 But there's a way that you can stay spiritually well,
24:11 and that's by staying close to God; by staying connected
24:15 to Him.
24:16 Proverbs 23 verse 26 says, "My son, give me your heart,
24:21 and let your eyes observe my ways."
24:24 Have you done that?
24:26 Given God your heart?
24:27 I want to encourage you to do that.
24:29 You know, there are a lot of frustrated people who know
24:32 that honestly they've been holding back, and they've
24:35 not been giving all to God.
24:38 You can't go through life ignoring the risk factors
24:41 and expecting to get away with it.
24:43 In the same way, it's vital to follow the pathway to
24:45 good spiritual health, and that pathway is the pathway
24:50 of surrender to Jesus.
24:52 And with that in mind, I'd like to offer you
24:54 a special book.
24:55 It's a book I wrote, and it's called "Confidence
24:58 in Chaos."
24:59 And this is a book that will help you navigate life's
25:02 challenging pathways and lead you to that place
25:05 in the heart of God that you can safely call
25:07 your spiritual home.
25:09 In order to get this book, call right now.
25:12 The number is 1-800-253-3000, and simply ask for
25:17 "Confidence in Chaos."
25:19 You can write to It Is Written at Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA
25:24 91359, and we'll mail a copy to your address
25:28 in North America.
25:29 This is a resource you'll appreciate.
25:32 It's yours free.
25:34 All you need to do is call right now 1-800-253-3000,
25:38 or write to the address on your screen.
25:41 There's no cost, and there's no catch.
25:45 Simply call now and ask for "Confidence in Chaos,"
25:49 and remember, It Is Written is a faith ministry made
25:54 possible by people like you.
25:56 If you're blessed by this program, I want to ask you
25:59 to be gracious enough to help us through
26:01 your financial support.
26:03 We don't place a lot of emphasis on that at It Is
26:05 Written, but that's not to suggest it isn't needed
26:08 or appreciated.
26:09 Your continued financial support makes it possible
26:12 for It Is Written to continue sharing the Word
26:14 of God with the world.
26:19 Thank you so much for your prayers and your support.
26:23 And I'd like to pray with you.
26:25 Let's pray together.
26:26 Our Father in heaven, I think You that in a world
26:30 that is full of risk factors, that there is a way
26:33 to safety, and that way is Jesus, our Savior
26:35 and our Friend.
26:37 Now I know that many of us, we're dealing with heart
26:39 issues, physically, literally, and I pray that
26:42 You as the Great Physician would come close and that
26:45 all of us who are dealing with a heart problem,
26:47 because our heart, the Bible says, is desperately wicked
26:50 and deceitful above all things.
26:53 Lord, come into our lives; make our hearts right
26:56 with You.
26:57 We offer them to You now and ask You to be in our life,
27:02 what we want You to be, and more importantly, what You
27:06 want us to be.
27:08 We thank You today, we praise You, we love You,
27:11 and we want to love You more.
27:12 Make that happen, please.
27:15 In Jesus' name we pray.
27:18 Amen.
27:20 [music]
27:44 JB: Thanks for joining me today.
27:45 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time.
27:47 Until then, remember, It Is Written:
27:50 "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
27:55 that proceeds from the mouth of God."


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Revised 2015-02-05