Ultimate Prescription

The Place for Technology and Modern Medicine

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Nick Evenson (Host), Dr. James Marcum

Home

Series Code: UP

Program Code: UP000076B


00:01 Welcome back! On today's program
00:02 we've been talking about the place for modern medicine
00:05 in your life and this is something that we've received
00:07 a lot of questions on, isn't it, Dr. Marcum.
00:09 In fact, "Heartwise Ministries" talks a lot about
00:12 modern medicine, there's a place for
00:15 modern medicine and we acknowledge that,
00:17 but there's a place for lifestyle,
00:19 and getting at the cause.
00:21 But I consider getting at the cause, hopefully,
00:24 that is modern medicine. Right
00:26 You know, but unfortunately the way medicine practices
00:28 it not always does that, it treats symptoms.
00:31 But I think, what we like to do at Heartwise,
00:34 that is sort of gives us a little distinctiveness,
00:36 is that we point to the Heavenly Father
00:38 as the Ultimate Physician.
00:40 Remember, doctors don't heal, God heals,
00:43 and God gives people the ability to heal.
00:46 So all power and all healing and all respect and awe
00:50 comes from that relationship we have with God,
00:53 and I try to really let people know that that is the most
00:56 important thing you can have...
00:57 Because even if you have a disease, Nick,
00:59 that's devastating, as long as you have that
01:03 relationship, you can have healing...
01:06 you know, it might be in heaven,
01:07 but you're going to have that healing and that's so important.
01:10 So I want those that want to learn more about this topic,
01:13 you can go to our website: heartwiseministries.org
01:16 We also believe in the treatment of prayer.
01:19 God answers prayers, God changes lives through
01:21 prayer and a lot of time, Nick, I've seen prayer
01:24 help people understand when to use modern technology.
01:28 I had a person come in, the other day, to the office,
01:30 and they had a rhythm called, "atrial fibrillation."
01:33 The top part of the heart was going fast and the bottom part;
01:37 1 in 3 strokes come from this rhythm. Really?
01:41 Yeah, and about 10% of older people have this rhythm.
01:45 So they really didn't want to take any medicine
01:48 to thin out the blood, they did not want to do this.
01:52 And so I said, "Why don't you pray about it,
01:55 and ask God about it," and give them the reasons,
01:58 the risk and the benefits and after thorough discussion
02:02 through that prayer, I believe that God helped to
02:04 show them that this is a place
02:05 that He can help use modern medicine.
02:08 So God can use modern medicine to help His people. Right
02:12 God can give power to make
02:13 lifestyle changes to help see to it.
02:15 Now I like to think that is modern medicine,
02:18 but unfortunately our system doesn't practice that way. Right
02:21 And I'd like to think that some day,
02:23 as we look back in history, they're going to say,
02:25 "You know, the doctors that took care of George Washington,
02:29 if they didn't take the blood out of George,
02:31 you know - they weren't a good doctor." Sure
02:33 And if you weren't part of that crowd,
02:34 they would say, "Hey, you need to leave."
02:37 Even in the 30s, Nick, they used to recommend
02:39 cigarettes for asthma. Yeah right
02:42 So some day, I'm hoping they will look back on
02:44 physicians that try to treat from a biblical perspective
02:47 using God as the guide, they'll say, "Wow, these guys
02:50 really knew what they were doing."
02:51 There was a place for medicine,
02:53 these guys really did know what they were doing.
02:54 No one listened to them then, but there was a place for this.
02:58 And that's what we try to do, is offer that balance
03:01 and, you know, we don't know everything...
03:03 We just give the best answers we can, prayerfully,
03:06 trying to use God's Scriptures
03:09 as a guide, and that's what we're going to do
03:11 with these questions today too. Right
03:13 Well let's jump right in here...
03:14 The first viewer that we're going to answer their question.
03:16 The question is: "I have gallstones and have
03:19 had pain in my belly and my doctor wants to perform
03:22 surgery, but I'm really reluctant."
03:24 "What are some other options?"
03:26 Well, unfortunately, the gallbladder is an organ
03:29 that digests a chemical called "bile,"
03:33 and it digests that and sometimes stones form in it,
03:39 and the stones can't get out and it blocks up the duct.
03:42 When the stones can't get out, it can predispose to
03:44 lots of pain because of the pressure.
03:46 You could also get infections.
03:48 So when you're having symptoms from the gallbladder,
03:51 really the natural methods are not
03:53 going to help you at that point. Right
03:55 Now sometimes, if the stones are little,
03:57 you can do some things that will help you,
03:59 and we recommend the whole food, plant-based diet.
04:03 You know, just general healthy living,
04:05 but it has gotten to the place where you do have stones,
04:07 and some people have genetic stones. Oh okay
04:09 If you have that, then I think the benefits of surgery
04:12 would outweigh the risk.
04:14 And, we got some great modern medicine for gallbladders
04:17 where they don't even have to cut you,
04:18 they do it through ports.
04:20 They use 4 ports and they go and we call it
04:22 "laparoscopic surgery."
04:24 They look in it laparoscopically and through some very
04:27 small holes, they can take the gallbladder out.
04:29 Before, it used to be a big incision;
04:31 the patient would have to be in up to a week,
04:34 but now, it's almost outpatient surgery now.
04:36 So this is a good place for modern medicine,
04:39 but remember, it doesn't fix the problem...
04:41 Modern medicine is good for genetics that we can't overcome,
04:44 and for - maybe we didn't have some good habits
04:46 earlier in our life, but now we want to
04:48 get on some good habits. Right
04:49 So this will help us to have more time,
04:51 maybe we can avoid an infection, lots of pain.
04:53 So this is a good place for modern medicine...
04:55 if you are having symptoms, the gallstones are big;
04:59 I think this is a place to really consider having it out.
05:02 Gallstones is one of those things that we might
05:03 put in the emergency category where it's too late
05:06 for natural remedies sometimes and surgery is a good option.
05:09 Really, what will help them know that is the size of the
05:12 gallbladder duct, whether the enzymes are
05:15 abnormal and whether you're having symptoms,
05:17 but if it gets to the place where you're having lots of
05:18 pain, lots of fever, the stones are big, then that's usually
05:22 a place where your surgeon would recommend having a
05:25 cholecystectomy, where they take it out laparoscopically now.
05:28 All right, we've got another question that has come in
05:31 that asks: "What are some of the symptoms of an infection?"
05:34 Yeah, and that's another great place for modern medicine
05:36 because before people had infections, they would die
05:39 from the infections.
05:41 So the symptoms mean that their
05:44 immune system is losing the battle.
05:46 Now we want to teach people to have strong immune systems,
05:49 but, you know, sometimes no matter how strong you are,
05:52 you can get overcome with infections.
05:54 We have bacterial infections, we treat those with antibiotics.
05:58 We have viral infections, we have some antivirals.
06:01 The flu is a virus - sometimes we just let
06:03 them run their course.
06:05 We have fungal infections.
06:06 We have parasitic infections, lots of infections!
06:10 But when the infections overcomes our immune system,
06:12 that's not the time to say, "Well, let's do something
06:15 to help us out."
06:17 The symptom of an infection might be "fevers,"
06:20 that's the body itself trying to knock down the infection.
06:23 A fever would be one - a person would be weak.
06:26 Depending on where the infection is, that might clue someone is.
06:30 If a person has an infection in the bowels,
06:32 they might have diarrhea.
06:34 Of course, if you have it on the hand,
06:36 you might see red streaks, you might have a fever.
06:39 If you have an infection in an ear,
06:41 you might have an earache.
06:43 If you have an infection in the back of your throat,
06:45 you might see pus back there
06:46 or you might actually see the infection. Right
06:49 So symptoms of infection are usually a fever...
06:53 Sometimes if the infection gets in the bloodstream,
06:55 you can have rigors which is shaking all over.
06:57 You can have a fast heartbeat
06:59 as the body tries to compensate for an infection.
07:02 So these are just some symptoms of an infection,
07:04 and sometimes you'll see it on your body.
07:06 If it's inside your body, you can't see that;
07:08 sometimes you might have pain in a certain part of the body
07:11 from the infection, but usually you have fevers.
07:14 Fevers and a fast heart rate are some of the characteristic
07:17 signs of an infection.
07:18 Now lots of other things can do it too,
07:20 but infections are right at the high end of causing fevers.
07:24 We've got another question that actually talks about the
07:26 pacemaker which you showed us earlier.
07:29 They say, "My mom is 95 and has a pacemaker,
07:32 how will I know when it needs to be replaced?"
07:35 Do you have to replace these every certain amount of years?
07:38 How does that work? Yeah Nick...
07:39 They have a battery in it and pacemakers, again,
07:42 are a place for modern medicine because
07:43 if she would not have had the pacemaker,
07:45 years ago her heart would have stopped. Right
07:47 But every 6, 7 or 8 years, depending on how much it is,
07:50 we check the battery function of the pacemaker with the device,
07:54 we check on the phone every month.
07:56 In person, we usually check once or twice a year.
07:58 So we can tell when the battery needs to be replaced,
08:01 and we get the pacemaker replaced long before.
08:04 It's sort of like changing a car battery, Nick. Right
08:06 You know, you sort of can tell it needs to be changed
08:08 you put the new battery in, you hook the wires up,
08:10 and it's a one day procedure.
08:12 It's a lot easier replacing the battery
08:14 than it is putting in the leads.
08:17 So we check it regularly in the office
08:19 and that gives us a feel how much battery life it has in it.
08:23 Our next question is kind of similar...
08:25 Someone has had a cardiac stent that is 2 years old,
08:28 and they are taking a blood thinner,
08:30 and they are wondering... Will they need to take the
08:32 blood thinner for the rest of their life.
08:34 Yeah, and again, remember stents are needed
08:37 in emergency situations sometimes. Right
08:39 But when we have a stent in, we've changed
08:42 one problem for another problem.
08:43 So we might have had coronary disease or a heart attack,
08:46 but now we have stent disease because a stent
08:48 actually damages the blood vessel.
08:50 And when the blood vessel is damaged,
08:53 Guess what happens? You'll want to clot.
08:55 You know, if I took my reflex camera and cut you and
08:59 damaged you, your blood would want to clot. Right
09:01 And if it wants to clot, that's good,
09:04 but if it's inside a blood vessel,
09:06 it keeps blood from flowing downstream. Right
09:08 That's bad - so when a stent goes in,
09:11 the blood wants to clot... so, depending on where the
09:14 stent is, how big it is and other circumstances,
09:17 your doctor will probably want to put you on some type
09:19 of blood thinner medicine.
09:21 There's one out there, the mildest one is called "aspirin."
09:24 We have one that's usually the first year
09:26 that they take the stent in, the healing the first year,
09:30 what happens is the stent sees the blood,
09:32 but the blood coats itself over it,
09:36 and that gives it more protection because the blood
09:37 stream does not see the stent as easily.
09:40 But during that first year, we give extra protection
09:43 with blood thinners - one is called, "Plavix,"
09:44 another one is called, "Brilinta,"
09:47 and there are several other types of blood thinners
09:49 that we add to that Plavix.
09:50 And usually after the year, depending on the circumstances,
09:53 we can cut back to an aspirin.
09:56 There are some circumstances where we say, "No,
09:58 we think the risk of being on blood thinners
10:01 are worth the benefits," and we have them on more than one,
10:04 and that would be in a smoker
10:05 or if the artery was in a bad position.
10:08 We'd say the risk of something happening within the stent
10:11 is greater than the risk of taking blood thinners.
10:14 And, of course, the main risk of blood thinners is bleeding.
10:17 Now we don't like to give any medicines including
10:20 blood thinners, but sometimes the benefits
10:23 of the blood thinners outweigh the risk of the blood thinners
10:26 in some stent cases, but it's a great place
10:28 for modern medicine because if the wouldn't have had
10:30 the stent, they might have died from a heart attack.
10:33 Now we know that water is important to the consistency
10:35 of your blood - is that also really important
10:37 after you've had a stent in?
10:40 It's always important to drink water.
10:41 Always! Regardless of what procedure you've had.
10:43 Sixty to 65% of our body is water.
10:47 When you don't drink enough water, guess what?
10:49 Stress happens in the body.
10:51 When stress happens long-term, it does damage...
10:53 Every cell needs water to work, so, yes,
10:55 it's important to keep the blood thin.
10:57 About 80 to 85% of the blood stream is water. Yeah!
11:01 So, you know, if you are passing out and getting dizzy,
11:05 low blood pressure - you'll want to drink water.
11:07 So it helps lots of different things. Right
11:09 But that's, again Nick, that's a place for modern medicine.
11:12 Not that it fixed the problem, but it helps deal with
11:15 the problem, so now we can work with that patient and say,
11:17 "Listen, you had coronary disease,
11:19 now, unfortunately, you have stent disease,
11:21 but what can we do to help you never need
11:24 to have another stent ever again? Right
11:27 We've got another question here and it says:
11:29 "I used to smoke and I have COPD; I wear an oxygen mask
11:33 at night, should I wear it also during the day?"
11:36 Well COPD is "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,"
11:40 that's where the lungs have been damaged.
11:42 Sometimes most likely it has been damaged by smoke,
11:46 but some inhalants can cause it as well.
11:49 Some chronic allergies can cause it.
11:51 Sometimes genetic things can cause it. Right
11:53 There is an Alpha antitrypsin deficiency that can cause
11:57 damage to the lungs, but anyway,
11:58 again, this is a place that's great for modern medicine.
12:02 You mentioned the body loves oxygen,
12:04 what's another thing the body loves?
12:06 Oxygen! Yeah, oxygen.
12:09 Water! Water and oxygen,
12:10 the basics. Right
12:12 So the body loves oxygen, so if you're running low
12:15 on oxygen, we can measure it.
12:16 It's a great place for modern medicine.
12:19 What did we do before we had
12:21 modern medicine and modern oxygen?
12:23 People would run out of oxygen, they would gradually get worse,
12:26 the cells wouldn't have what they would need,
12:27 and they would die premature deaths. Right
12:30 So I want everyone to remember, we need oxygen,
12:32 water and another thing we always need is enough rest.
12:35 Those are sort of the basics of care.
12:37 But again, this is another great place for modern medicine.
12:40 The lungs might have been damaged and he
12:42 can still live a fulfilling life.
12:44 He can help himself to be healthy.
12:45 Now other things that can help oxygen delivery
12:48 is taking deep breaths... holding it... 2 or 3 seconds,
12:53 letting out slowly, learning to deep breathe
12:55 that will help oxygen open up the air sacs
12:58 so we would get more oxygen.
12:59 An exercise program because it makes the blood vessels
13:01 do better.
13:03 So all those are little things in addition to oxygen
13:05 so he might not need to wear oxygen quite as much.
13:08 We've got another viewer who asks:
13:10 What actually is a "ventilator" and if one is put on
13:13 the device, is it permanent?"
13:14 Yeah and this is another place for modern medicine.
13:18 I see lots of people that are on ventilators
13:20 because their lungs don't work well.
13:22 So we sort of put them on a ventilator to see if we
13:25 can get the lungs better.
13:26 If it's due to heart failure or fluid in the lungs,
13:28 sometimes we give them fluid pills and get their heart better
13:31 and they don't need to be on the ventilator very long.
13:33 Sometimes it's due to infection.
13:35 Some people actually have trauma to their lungs
13:38 and they pop a lung - that's called a "pneumothorax."
13:40 I was taking care of a bicycle rider about 3 months ago,
13:44 he was riding his bike; he went over the handlebars...
13:47 I know you ride the bike.
13:48 Yeah, that's happened to me once or twice.
13:50 Yeah and he actually popped his lung. Really
13:51 And when he popped his lung, all the air rushed out
13:54 of his lung and squished it.
13:56 And his other lung didn't do very good,
13:58 and he needed to be on the ventilator for a short
14:00 period of time until we put a chest tube in
14:02 and then his lung expanded again.
14:04 So that was a place for modern medicine.
14:06 He is doing fine today.
14:08 He is not taking as many chances on his bicycle,
14:10 but, yes, a ventilator might not be permanent
14:13 if we can get at the underlying cause.
14:16 Dialysis is another one, that's another place
14:19 for modern medicine because before people had these
14:21 interventions, they would pass away.
14:23 Now, it doesn't necessarily fix the problem,
14:26 but it buys us time until we can hopefully
14:28 fix the underlying cause of the illness.
14:30 So ventilators maybe not permanently,
14:33 depending on what caused you to be on it.
14:34 We have time just for one more question...
14:37 It says, "I have polycystic kidney disease,
14:40 they expect dialysis will be needed,
14:42 are there other options to dialysis?"
14:43 Yeah and that's another great question for modern medicine.
14:48 Before we had dialysis and transplants,
14:51 guess what happened?
14:53 People would die of kidney disease
14:55 like polycystic kidney disease.
14:57 That's often genetically passed from one person.
14:59 You get lots of cysts or fluid-filled cavities
15:02 in the kidneys so the kidney doesn't work well.
15:05 Sometimes the kidney function goes down so much
15:08 that they need dialysis.
15:10 But is there an alternative dialysis?
15:13 Yes, and that's transplants and we have lots of places
15:16 for modern medicine where we can transplant an organ.
15:19 We have kidneys that can be transplanted,
15:21 corneas that can be transplanted.
15:23 They can transplant livers.
15:25 We could transplant heart and lungs,
15:27 and we don't like to do that, but transplants are possible
15:31 in some situations and this is
15:33 a great place for modern medicine.
15:35 Does the transplant or the dialysis take away
15:38 the polycystic kidneys? No, it does not,
15:41 but it gives this person another chance to do well,
15:44 overcome some genetics, overcome something bad that
15:46 has happened in their life.
15:48 So this is another great place for modern medicine.
15:51 Well it sounds like we are very fortunate to have
15:53 all the advancements and medicines that we do,
15:55 and there is definitely a lot of places where
15:57 it's really important to use modern medicine. It is
16:00 All right, we're going to be back in just a moment as
16:02 Dr. Marcum closes the program with prayer - stay with us.
16:09 Modern medicine can definitely be overwhelming.
16:16 You see all these advances in genetics and new procedures
16:20 and new pills and we've talked a little bit today
16:23 about the place for modern medicine...
16:25 And there is a place for modern medicine,
16:27 and that place is to help get us over the hump,
16:30 to help a disaster, to help bad genetics,
16:32 there is a place for modern medicine.
16:34 I hope you never need modern medicine, but thank goodness
16:37 God has given us men and women to advance technology
16:40 to do these types of things.
16:42 And who knows where modern
16:44 technology will go in the future...
16:46 But the important thing that I really want us all to focus on
16:49 is that Ultimate Prescription that we have
16:51 with the Heavenly Father.
16:52 So even if modern medicine
16:54 doesn't work out, we still have hope.
16:56 We still know that there is going to be
16:57 permanent healing. So let's pray together...
17:00 Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving us modern
17:03 medicine and giving us the wisdom through You
17:06 to learn how to use it appropriately, Father...
17:08 And we want to thank You for being a God that loves us
17:11 and takes care of us and wants to enter into a healing
17:14 relationship with us, Father, and there might be some
17:16 out there that need You in a special way today.
17:19 We want to pray for them that You be especially near to them
17:22 and speak to their hearts.
17:24 And thank You for giving us this opportunity to serve You today
17:27 is our humble prayer... Amen


Home

Revised 2016-10-06