Wonderfully Made

How To Save Your Heart

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Claudio Japas, Hildemar Dos Santos

Home

Series Code: WM

Program Code: WM000413


00:01 The following program presents principles
00:03 designed to promote good health
00:04 and is not intended to take the place
00:05 of personalized professional care.
00:08 The opinions and the ideas expressed
00:10 are those of the speaker.
00:11 Viewers are encouraged to draw their own
00:13 conclusions about the information presented.
00:36 Welcome to Wonderfully Made.
00:38 I'm glad you joined us. I'm your host Claudio
00:40 Japas a Doctoral Student at Loma Linda University
00:44 in the Preventive Care Program.
00:45 In Wonderfully Made, we want to make sure
00:48 you understand that God has created the human body
00:50 as an intricate and marvelous creation.
00:54 There are so many components to it.
00:56 There are so many things to learn that
00:58 even in eternity I believe we will always be
01:00 learning more about it.
01:02 Today, we have an interesting topic
01:03 and joining me is Dr. Dos Santos.
01:05 He is a professor at Loma Linda University
01:07 in the Preventive Care Program.
01:09 Welcome Dr. Dos Santos.
01:11 Thank you it's a pleasure to be here
01:13 and we will talk about the heart today.
01:16 That's right you have worked in many countries,
01:19 so you understand the global perspective for health.
01:22 What are some of those countries you worked in?
01:24 Yeah I work in Brazil, I'm originally from Brazil.
01:27 Then I work in United States for a while
01:30 and then I move to Hong Kong.
01:32 And the common thing about that is
01:35 that heart disease is the main cause of that in both
01:38 of the situations in Asia, in South America,
01:41 and in North America. And also in many other
01:45 countries as we will see in the lecture.
01:47 Right, and you are dual doctorate right.
01:52 Doctor in medicine, I correct and doctrine in.
01:55 In Preventive Care or public health.
01:58 Perfect, perfect, so we will be enjoying
02:01 your comments on that wide spectrum
02:03 of knowledge that you have.
02:05 And you are right, heart disease is the number
02:08 one killer not only in America,
02:10 but in the world. In the America alone there
02:13 are over 600 thousand people
02:15 that die from it everyday.
02:17 Sometimes we fear accidents
02:18 or gunshot wounds or deaths a lot,
02:21 but we don't realize that the own organ inside
02:24 our own body is killing so many of us.
02:26 In fact in our graphic we can see that
02:30 in the world as far as America also
02:33 both are killing a lot of people.
02:37 It's a number one killer in both followed in
02:40 America by cancer and stroke
02:42 and in the world by stroke is number two
02:45 and infectious diseases as number,
02:48 respiratory infections diseases as number three.
02:52 So, we can see that in the whole world over
02:54 7 million people every year are dying from the heart.
02:57 Why is this epidemic so big?.
03:01 It is interesting because this starts in our heart
03:06 and it starts in this small vein that we have
03:11 here or a small artery that we call coronaries.
03:16 Is a, is a very tiny artery,
03:19 but if blood does not circulating this part
03:23 of the heart the whole part,
03:25 the whole muscle can die and that's,
03:29 and that's where the problem starts.
03:32 So if someone has a coronary problem
03:35 or obstruction in the end in this part
03:37 so it just a tiny area of the heart that will suffer.
03:41 But, when the heart attack occurs in the bigger,
03:45 biggest part then there is a risk of
03:50 what we call is total myocardial infarction
03:56 that will destroy the heart.
03:59 That tissue over there. So, why does it happen
04:01 again is here, but is related to lifestyle.
04:07 Mostly there is a deposit of cholesterol
04:09 inside of the arteries.
04:11 There is a deposit of calcium and fibrin
04:14 and all over these things that block the circulation.
04:17 Always, I like to use cars as an example
04:20 because it's something that most of us see that
04:21 however familiar with and perhaps a good analogy
04:26 that I would add is if we had a car
04:28 and there is conduit or tubing or pipes
04:31 that go from the gas tank to the engine
04:34 and that provides fuel so that engine
04:36 can function normally. If that conduit is blocked
04:42 or stop in a certain manner the fuel
04:45 can't get to the engine and the engine would
04:46 shut down or that part would stop from working
04:49 much the same way our heart needs the conduit those
04:52 arteries to pass the blood to function normally,
04:55 to receive the oxygen and the nutrients for that
04:58 muscle to be contracting and working.
05:00 But if it's blocked, if it's stiffened,
05:01 there is less life in that right,
05:03 there is, it's to gonna stop
05:04 and does the heart attack.
05:07 What is causing that blockage?
05:10 Will you mentioned little bit about plaque.
05:12 What is plaque and what is causing that
05:15 plaque from building there
05:16 or the stiffening of the arteries also.
05:19 Well there is a combination of diet and exercise.
05:23 Those are the main factors so, if you,
05:26 if you don't exercise then the circulation
05:31 is not gonna be the same, but the advantage as
05:35 when you exercise you develop an extra
05:39 copular net of vessels so instead of having just one,
05:47 you have a lot of small ones around.
05:49 So, you have an increase circulation
05:53 because when we exercise the heart to get stronger.
05:56 So, a lack of exercise means
05:58 lack of irrigation in the heart.
06:01 Okay. The other point is that too much fat
06:04 in the food and too much protein in a diet that
06:11 is high in sugar will cause that
06:14 the blood will be thick. Okay.
06:18 When the blood is think is gonna deposit high,
06:21 higher level or higher amount of
06:24 cholesterol in the arteries.
06:26 The other thing is that this creates a small bump
06:29 in the arteries. And it takes maybe 10
06:32 or to 20 years for this bump to obstruct,
06:34 but you imagine here you have a small bump
06:38 and then you have a thick blood,
06:41 so a thick blood in a small bump
06:43 will create the flow and will create a clot easy.
06:47 And this is the main cause 80% or 85%
06:51 of heart attacks are caused not because of total
06:54 obstruction may because of
06:55 a clot that was created,
06:56 in the blood that blocking that, exactly, yeah.
06:58 Okay, so that's good to know.
07:00 So, the diet you mention what we eat has a big
07:04 part to do and then lack of exercise.
07:06 Is there a list of risk factors
07:07 or something that we can look out and say well
07:09 I can maybe check these risk factors or
07:13 different things that I maybe in danger of.
07:16 Yes, you are right, there is two types of risk factors
07:20 and we can see in the graphic that we have
07:23 risk factors the first three ones,
07:26 family history, age and gender are considered
07:29 the normal defiled ones.
07:31 Then the other ones like weight especially
07:35 abdominal weight, physical inactivity,
07:37 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol,
07:40 smoking, and stress are the habits that we can change.
07:45 So, you see that is a combinational effect
07:49 you cannot say that heart disease is caused
07:51 by one thing, but when you accumulate three,
07:56 four of those factors so your risk
07:58 for heart disease is increased a lot.
08:02 Alright, right, so I'm looking at this list
08:04 and I'm wondering well, which one should I,
08:06 should I check first you know the last one
08:10 or it should be maybe my family history
08:12 is their one way to begin or where
08:15 I should begin looking.
08:16 Yeah, you know that I always mention
08:19 check your ancestors,
08:22 check your family for risks,
08:24 either heart disease or cancer or diabetes
08:27 you should know, you should have a map
08:30 of what happened to your father, mother,
08:32 grandfather and siblings.
08:36 And then you have an idea if someone die from
08:40 heart disease or someone had a heart attack,
08:42 you might have a risk for that
08:44 and then you have to provide so
08:47 Be more cautious. Yeah more cautious for that.
08:49 Take precautions, yeah, I should say.
08:51 So, do not fall in the same trap because
08:52 you already more predisposed
08:54 to those risk factors or that disease.
08:59 What about age, I saw age on their and gender.
09:03 Those are things I can't change,
09:05 what should I do about those,
09:06 how should I check on those
09:07 or use those to my advantage.
09:09 Well, age we have a software that we use
09:13 to calculate the health age and then I
09:17 believe that there is biological age
09:19 and health age.
09:21 That means that if you follow a good lifestyle
09:25 you are gonna live longer.
09:26 So, if you check your age today you might be
09:29 younger compared to yourself
09:32 if you don't fall, biological age,
09:34 is to biological age, so even person that is old
09:38 he might not have the risk of die soon
09:42 because of lifestyle. But, some people say well
09:45 I have 60 years old and is old,
09:49 it's late to start exercising and lifestyle.
09:53 But, I have a lady that started exercise
09:56 at 66 years old they wanna have heard
09:59 Peacher now, Hulda Crooks.
10:02 She started exercising at 66 years old.
10:05 And then she died when she was 104.
10:09 I use to see her, I used to live in Loma Linda,
10:12 where she was on that time she was 100 years old
10:17 and always walking 3, 4 miles
10:19 a day around the city. Amazing, Amazing.
10:21 Yeah and so you cannot see well,
10:24 but she started exercising since she was a kid,
10:29 but no she started with 66 years old
10:32 and she climbed all the mountains in California.
10:35 And she climbed Mount Fuji in Japan
10:39 was the oldest person to climb that
10:41 Mount Fuji with 92 years old.
10:44 And she climbed Mount Whitney in California
10:48 and many times and they name her
10:51 to the other mountain close to Mount Whitney
10:55 that is Mount Crook now. Amazing so even if you
11:01 are above 66, there is no reason to think that,
11:05 there is no reason to start exercising or to
11:07 strengthening my heart.
11:09 There should always age shouldn't be an excuse.
11:12 And going back to the biological age,
11:14 it's nice to know that perhaps from 70 or from
11:17 even 30 that I can be doing things in my life
11:21 that will give me a normal life or good
11:24 quality of life while I'm so here.
11:27 And definitely Hulda Crooks is
11:29 a perfect example that.
11:31 Now going to the doctor is that a good preventive
11:35 measure or only when I see the risk
11:38 or if I know others risk how would you assess that?
11:41 Yeah, I would say that you should do medical
11:45 checkup everybody should do a medical check up
11:48 to check for disease. So, you will have
11:51 your family history and then you go to the doctor
11:55 periodically I mean once a year,
11:57 once every two years depend on your age.
11:59 And then you have picture of that,
12:02 some people stop that, so I went to the doctor
12:05 my cholesterol is good, my heart is good,
12:07 my blood is good, but they, they should go
12:11 one step further and check their lifestyle
12:14 because is not just the cholesterol,
12:16 is not just the blood samples,
12:19 is not just the physicals. You might have
12:24 other factors, you might have an excessive weight,
12:27 you might have, you might not be doing exercise
12:30 and then even if their tests are normal
12:33 you might be at risk. If you don't have a good,
12:36 if you don't do your homework.
12:37 Yeah homework, what do you mean by homework,
12:39 I thought hopefully by then we would be
12:41 done with school, but always a different kind
12:44 of homework perhaps you are doing
12:46 I don't know explain that a little bit better.
12:47 Yeah, homework is like I have a patient
12:52 two weeks ago we did a fair in San Bernardino
12:55 and then we check blood pressure in the population.
12:58 So, we have this heavy guy that sat on the chair
13:02 and say measure my blood pressure.
13:04 So, we put the cuff we measure blood pressure
13:08 and there was a friend of him that was in front
13:11 and he was watching for him or waiting for him
13:14 and then his pressure was 120/76 and then
13:19 he was heavy and he told the guy see what exercise
13:23 does to you and that guy what you mean by that.
13:26 Well, I go to the gym everyday.
13:28 So, it is not important that if you are overweight,
13:33 you are gonna have the risk,
13:35 what is more important is that
13:37 even if you haven't lost the weight.
13:39 But, you are doing your homework that's
13:41 what I mean, he was doing the exercise.
13:44 He is doing his part, he was going everyday
13:47 going to the gym, perfect,
13:49 perfect, even if is half-an-hour,
13:50 but he was being consistent with that making
13:52 sure he had the benefits of what is to do your part
13:56 because the doctor can't do anything he can maybe
13:58 tell you the symptoms or what you may need more,
14:01 but God gave us our body for us to be in charge
14:04 of to us to take care of.
14:05 In the point for him is that he was able to
14:09 control his blood pressure.
14:12 Another point related to that
14:14 is that you go to the doctor.
14:15 The doctor prescribes something,
14:17 so we know today the prescription
14:19 for hypertension, the prescription for diabetes
14:22 and people don't come comply with that.
14:24 And then they have a high risk,
14:27 I believe that medicines are important to prevent
14:30 the disease in the near future in a couple of
14:34 months or years, it can prevent a heart attack.
14:38 So, it's important to take the medicine.
14:40 Of course, the lifestyle is also important
14:43 and lifestyle will give you a broad longer time,
14:47 and longer range, will protect you for 10
14:49 and 20 years, but you cannot skip the medicine
14:53 and that's the problem. Many people say,
14:54 I don't need that or I don't like the doctor
14:57 or I don't like the prescription,
14:59 I feel the side effects, so if the doctor prescribe
15:03 something you have to follow because there
15:05 are people that die because of hypertension simply
15:08 because they don't take the medication. Right,
15:10 right. They get a stroke and then is complicated.
15:13 So, medicines are important,
15:16 but the homework is important and I wanna
15:18 share with you that the medicines
15:21 like I said are needed many times,
15:23 but if we can start our homework,
15:25 remember what homework was doing our part,
15:26 doing our exercise, eating right.
15:29 As early as possible and even if it's late,
15:32 it's never true late. That we can most likely
15:34 avoid many of the mediations that
15:36 we often times have to take because we haven't
15:39 done our homework previously.
15:40 So, exercise is extremely important
15:43 for heart disease, but sometimes
15:45 we hear some stories that are little
15:47 discomfort to hear like somebody goes to the gym
15:48 and they are working super hard and they work
15:51 on the exercise and next day I know they
15:54 fall over with the heart attack or die.
15:57 How do you explain that
15:58 they are doing their exercise?
16:00 Well first of all 7 million people die
16:04 and I would say 99% of this guys
16:08 die because of lack of exercise.
16:09 Okay. But, we have a percentage 1% of
16:14 people are died during exercise.
16:16 Okay. And why is that, one time I have a patient
16:21 that was a smoker for many years
16:24 and then he came to my office
16:26 and he stop smoking.
16:28 And then he was about 60 years old
16:32 and when he was 70 years old
16:34 he was a German guy, he visited Germany,
16:36 he is Germany and then when he was there
16:39 in this trip he saw all the destructions that
16:43 the second world war cause to his Germany
16:46 and he got so depressed, he got a heart attack
16:49 and he died. So, they mentioned why this guy die,
16:53 the same question, if he stop his smoking
16:56 he was doing a good homework
16:58 then I told the widow well he would died
17:02 much earlier probably I cannot guess
17:06 the right things, but it's about some people die
17:10 everywhere and anywhere and so you have to may be
17:16 if the person didn't exercise he would have
17:20 be gone before. But, I have an advice
17:24 for our audience. I believe we have
17:29 to respect our body.
17:31 Many people go to exercise and they go to streams
17:37 and they feel, they feel uneasy and sometimes
17:41 they feel dizzy they feel pain,
17:43 but they go with the motivation and they go
17:46 and they think that this is the main thing.
17:48 I have a graphic to show you from
17:52 Hong Kong Marathon. For many years,
17:55 I was a trainer for club that we have in Hong Kong
18:00 for the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital.
18:02 And I run a club for Marathon runners.
18:05 Encourage exercise, encourage them,
18:07 exactly, be active.
18:08 And you see in this picture,
18:09 I run several half marathons,
18:12 half marathons in what they call Hong Kong charted,
18:16 standard charted marathon
18:18 and we have people that will die, almost die
18:21 they will feel pain in their knees and
18:24 pain in the back and they will go and say no
18:28 I have to finish and this will mean that they will
18:31 finish that marathon.
18:32 But, they will have a lesion in their knees
18:36 that will stay forever. So, I would say respect
18:40 your body and I was the person that was
18:44 when they started to say you run a full
18:47 marathon as you know full is too much.
18:49 Right. I go for a half, even half is too much.
18:52 So by respecting you mean listen to the symptoms
18:55 or the sings of pain or okay,
18:58 I haven't done this in a while I need to start slowly
19:01 or my body is not used to this.
19:03 I should give my body a chance to accommodate
19:05 or get to that point where I can get that.
19:07 And don't exaggerate in terms of exercise.
19:10 I was interviewed one time by a reporter
19:14 and then she was to write an article
19:16 about running and then she said how about
19:18 a person that runs 5 miles.
19:20 And then cannot go to 6 and 7 and 10 miles
19:24 and just go to 5 miles and that's it.
19:26 What is your advice? You know what I said?
19:29 What did you tell her.
19:30 I tell that I told her, oh, how about the five miles
19:34 is the ideal thing for her. So,
19:36 why she has to go to 10 miles.
19:38 Exactly. You know
19:39 what they never wrote that article.
19:41 They never published it that interview
19:44 because I mean the push is that do a lot you
19:48 motivation you can do, but in this
19:50 you have to have a limit.
19:51 You have to respect your own limits.
19:54 So, if you feel so tired, so exhausted
19:57 and many marathon runners they get a cold,
20:00 a big cold after the race that means you're
20:04 your immune system has been suppressed.
20:06 So, you have to put attention to that.
20:07 If you feel good. Exercises taken to
20:09 an extreme and then, exactly,
20:11 that extreme suppresses or what is a fatigue
20:14 stressor on the body that's unnecessary.
20:16 So, once in a while perhaps or if you train up
20:19 to that point it might be a different story.
20:21 But, like you said respect the body,
20:23 know that God put limits to it
20:26 and to live happily in among those limits.
20:29 Another thing is when you have a major disease
20:32 or a surgery. So, you have to have a period
20:37 of recovery after that you.
20:39 If you even if you are a runner after a major
20:42 disease in your life, you have to go slow,
20:44 you have to start walking and
20:45 then progressively get to the point.
20:48 Exactly, I think that point has been
20:51 made clear them to be progressive
20:54 and slow and respective.
20:56 Now on to a different topic on diet.
20:58 Diet and heart disease, you mentioned at the
21:00 beginning that what we eat becomes part of us.
21:04 So, if we are eating high fatty foods
21:07 that actually becomes part of our body
21:09 or actual cells and storage and
21:11 part of it goes to the heart.
21:13 What do you have to say about diet?
21:16 Well diet is as important as exercise and
21:20 I mentioned at the beginning that
21:21 high fat diet will increase cholesterol and
21:24 this will depositing in the arteries.
21:28 And also a high sugar diet mix with the high fat
21:33 diet will create the flow that is
21:37 very slow in the arteries. Is like a river.
21:40 Small and thicker. Yeah, because
21:42 of the thickness the flow is gonna be slow
21:44 and then this will cause more deposit in the,
21:47 in the wall of the arteries
21:54 and then this will if you have an artery that
21:58 is ready with a plaque,
22:01 so this plaque will recreate this,
22:06 something that the blood will not flow very well
22:08 to the cells because there is this
22:11 plaque and there is low flow.
22:14 Right. Like a river full of flesh,
22:16 full of dirt, it cannot flow.
22:19 You see some rivers that.
22:22 Very sluggish. Very sluggish and
22:24 that on circulation is not going anywhere.
22:28 Well, I like to think about diet in a global
22:33 perspective or international perspective
22:36 and then we have a problem because they have some
22:39 countries that are in sub nutritious stage
22:44 they don't have what to eat,
22:47 so I'm in charge of a class that
22:49 we call in global health, global health
22:52 nutrition then is a struggle because
22:54 we have to teach that we have to provide food
22:57 for the third war, but we have to be careful to not
23:01 transform that the third war to the first war
23:06 or the developing countries style of not
23:09 having food to the developed countries
23:13 of having too much food
23:15 and too much rich food.
23:17 That's what we called a nutritional transition.
23:20 A rich food you mean foods that are high caloric
23:24 or calorically dense foods. So,
23:26 lot of calories little few
23:28 nutrients. High density foods.
23:29 Yeah high density,
23:30 the nutrients are little low
23:31 and the minerals or vitamins, the fiber,
23:33 so that when you talk about rich
23:35 that's we are planning.
23:37 Yes, that's the point and then we have to balance
23:42 that in terms of teaching these countries.
23:49 Because what is happening in the developing
23:51 countries is that in the rural areas
23:53 they don't have enough food.
23:55 But, in the CD they have Western this kind of food
23:59 high density, low nutrients food and then people
24:02 in the rural areas still I wonder they have
24:05 infectious disease and diarrhea and nutrition
24:09 problem malnourishment. In the CDs,
24:12 they have obesity, diabetes,
24:14 high cholesterol, and hypertension.
24:16 So, we need to be careful that those diseases
24:18 are transformed or brought into the rural areas
24:23 through the fast food or the junk food
24:26 or some of theses foods that
24:28 aren't the best for the body.
24:30 Within our company followed by
24:32 if eaten in access with the diseases.
24:35 Yeah, this they call epidemiological transition.
24:38 When the countries come from disease
24:42 that are infectious and they go to chronic
24:45 disease that are related to lifestyle
24:47 not only nutrition, but nutrition
24:49 and exercise this is the characteristic of rich,
24:54 the rich country. So, you have more food,
24:56 you have, but you should not be like that
24:59 because in that case you just change the style
25:02 of disease or the types of disease
25:05 and you get in the same trouble.
25:07 So, I have a problem when we go to these countries
25:11 and we bring our style of eating and then
25:17 we instead of helping them to overcome the disease,
25:20 we help them to change the pattern of disease.
25:24 Not quickly maybe you can answer the question
25:27 that the argument that's brought by many that
25:30 maybe this is a genetic thing that may be
25:32 these different countries, different areas have
25:34 a generic disposition to these diseases.
25:37 Is that something that we can use as an excuse.
25:40 Yeah, before we go there
25:42 I would like to tell a story
25:44 about what happen in Beijing.
25:46 We have, we have a very interesting thing
25:51 that researcher went to talk to
25:55 Altoist about the problem
25:58 of fast food restaurants seen in China.
26:01 And after he talked, the Chinese
26:03 Altoist came and said,
26:06 what do you mean by that. We were under nourished.
26:10 We want more fresh food restaurants.
26:12 We want more restaurants because
26:14 we are eager to have more food.
26:16 Yes. And they don't understand that those foods
26:19 might not be the best for them.
26:21 So, then I have to answer a question
26:24 about what was that?
26:26 The genetic recession. The genetic, yeah,
26:28 use as an argument many times.
26:30 Yeah, well I just have a less picture here about
26:33 the Pima Indians to show that is not genetic.
26:36 So, in this picture you see that Pima Indians
26:40 are in Arizona and they are in Southern Mexico.
26:46 In Southern Mexico, they kept the lifestyle
26:49 that is healthy exercise and healthy diet.
26:54 In Arizona they adopted the lifestyle
26:58 the western lifestyle of eating and no exercise
27:02 so if you talk about the risk of diabetes
27:05 and high cholesterol and obesity the Mexicans
27:09 when they don't have it.
27:10 But, in Arizona they have us we have.
27:12 The same, the same.. So, is not genetic,
27:15 I mean they have the same
27:16 nature caputring, but they
27:18 have two lifestyles different.
27:21 So, genetics isn't the only exercise we can use.
27:23 Lifestyle becomes one of those big components
27:25 in our lives that we can take control of and use
27:28 for our own benefit. Dr. Dos Santos you
27:30 have been a blessing to us I thank you for coming
27:32 for adding your knowledge and
27:34 your practical applications
27:36 on how to take care of our hearts.
27:38 Thank you very much. You are welcome,
27:39 it's my pleasure to be here.
27:41 Thank you. And to all our listeners and viewers
27:44 we want to make sure that you realize that
27:47 the number one killer is right inside of us.
27:50 That the heart often times is mistreated
27:53 and it is part of God's wonderful creation.
27:56 Let us remember John 14:1,
27:58 where Jesus says let your heart
28:00 not be troubled trust in God,
28:02 trust also in me. We are Wonderfully Made
28:05 let us trust God continually treating
28:06 our bodies the best way.


Home

Revised 2014-12-17