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Series Code: UP
Program Code: UP180117B
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00:01 Welcome back to "The Ultimate Prescription"
00:02 On today's program, we're answering some of the most 00:04 commonly asked questions that Dr. Marcum receives 00:06 to the website at: HeartwiseMinistries.org 00:09 People can submit their questions and Dr. Marcum 00:12 or someone from his team will give some general advice to 00:15 steer them in the right and find solutions. 00:16 And remember, these are opinions, 00:18 they're not convictions. Yes, that's right. 00:20 I'm just doing my best to help people and, like I said... 00:23 You really need to see your doctor that knows 00:25 all the details but these are just steering people 00:28 in a direction to help them out based on where I'm at 00:32 with the knowledge that I've learned in trying to balance 00:34 all of these factors that we've talked about... 00:37 you know, the modern medicine factors; the when to 00:40 use lifestyle, but I also want everyone to ask 00:43 The Ultimate Physician for help in every problem first. 00:46 You know, and He can sort of guide you where you need to go 00:49 realizing that not every problem needs to be fixed, 00:53 and not every problem is fixable right now. Yeah. 00:57 So that's one thing and people think, "Oh, I need to be 00:59 perfect; I need to feel young again; I need to not have pain." 01:04 But remember, when we have bad genes that are ageing, 01:06 sometimes this is not possible. 01:08 That doesn't mean we can't come into a safe place 01:11 and have a good place to be, but we just have to 01:13 sometimes be realistic about life. Yeah. 01:16 Well, you get questions on a broad variety of topics, 01:20 but here we've got one that's right up your alley; 01:22 it's about a pacemaker. Okay. 01:24 This person writes in and says, "My doctor says I need a 01:26 pacemaker; is there any natural alternative 01:29 that I can use instead?" Okay. 01:30 Well that's a great question and I tell people that 01:33 everything gets old at certain speeds - based on 01:36 our genes and the stress. 01:38 For instance... If everyone in the Nick Evenson family 01:42 had to wear glasses at an early age, and you put stress 01:46 on your eyes with a lot of eyestrain, or maybe a lot of 01:49 sunlight which damaged your eyes and triggered different changes, 01:52 you might have visual problems at a younger age, 01:55 and thank goodness, we have modern medicine with glasses 01:58 so you can see and do things, okay? 01:59 That's a great place for modern medicine. Right. 02:02 Sometimes, just like your eyes get old, sometimes the wires 02:06 of the heart get old too, and sometimes it's genetic; 02:09 sometimes it is lifestyle and genetics; sometimes there's 02:12 other causes as well. 02:13 But when the wires start going too slow, 02:16 their parts are wearing out. 02:18 And you have a choice, either let the heart go slower, 02:21 slower, slower until it stops... 02:23 Now I'm assuming that it's not something that's reversible, 02:25 it's just an ageing process or you can have a pacemaker. 02:29 So thank goodness we have pacemakers. 02:32 I tell this story... I had a patient, one time when I 02:35 practiced in the Philadelphia area, that had a heart rate 02:40 that went slower and slower and slower and it was a genetic 02:42 thing - the wires just wore out quick in his family and he 02:45 wasn't on a medicine that did it; he wasn't of a thyroid 02:48 that did it; he didn't have Lyme disease or any infection; 02:51 he had not had surgery that could slow the heart. 02:53 It just got slow and it got down to 30 and he had the 02:57 choice to either have a pacemaker or it get slower 03:00 and eventually he would pass away. Right. 03:02 So this is a good story... so he got the pacemaker 03:05 and he has been spreading the gospel in his 03:07 church for years now. 03:08 You know, his body is not perfect because a pacemaker 03:11 is never good as what God gave you, 03:12 but for him, it was better than the alternative. 03:15 Yeah, there are a lot of cases where modern medicine has 03:17 just amazing tools to help us. Yes! Yes! 03:19 And you were telling me, just recently, about a pacemaker 03:21 that was incredibly smaller, right? 03:24 Yeah, technology is improved so much and in the old days 03:27 Alfred Hitchcock had one of the first pacemakers. 03:30 It was huge and it was put in his belly. 03:32 But before that, you know, the 20s and 30s, 03:34 we didn't have pacemakers. Right. 03:36 If someone's heart wore out, they were finished. Yes. 03:40 So that's when we hope that have 03:41 the Ultimate Prescription too. 03:44 So now they have a battery 03:47 with leads that go into the heart. 03:48 They had that for numerous years but now they've 03:51 come up with this leadless system and it's just like a 03:54 tick that you implant into the heart; there are no 03:56 leads, there are no batteries and it's there 03:58 until it basically wears out. Wow! 04:00 And it's just tiny. 04:01 Yes, it's about the size of a tick. Wow! 04:03 And they plant it in the heart, it has little things that 04:05 stick in there. 04:06 So what if you're not ready to go and it wears out? 04:09 Well, they can monitor it and they could 04:11 put another tick in there. Yeah. 04:12 They could put numerous ones inside the heart. 04:14 It's like having a tick in your heart 04:15 that keeps it going. Amazing! 04:17 We sure are thankful for the creativity that God gave us 04:20 to be able to reason and discover these new technologies 04:23 and make them even easier to put in and administer. 04:27 But you know what, Nick, it just reminds me 04:29 someday... sometimes I think about the magnificence of God. 04:35 You know, if He allows man to do these things, 04:38 how much more can be done? Yes. 04:40 How much greater. Yeah, how much greater! 04:42 We can't even imagine - when we see the vastness of the 04:45 universe of how things come together... 04:47 You know, if man has the ability to do these things, 04:50 how much more is out there that we can't even imagine! 04:54 Can you imagine your whole existence be turning into a 04:56 beam of light - zooming across the universe transforming 05:01 when you got to places? 05:02 You can't even imagine the greatness of God! 05:05 All you can do is praise Him and thank Him and thank Him 05:08 for allowing you to have a relationship with Him. Yep. 05:11 Let's move on to our next question here... 05:13 Lots of folks have written in and asked about "osteoporosis." 05:17 How can they strengthen their bones? 05:20 Well yeah, osteoporosis, bones getting weak, 05:21 and I tell them there are lots of ways to do it, 05:23 but, Nick, here's a quiz question... 05:26 "What animal do you think has some of the strongest 05:29 bones in the earth?" 05:31 You've probably heard this one before. 05:32 And you've said it's an elephant which is 05:36 probably strong but I'd say the 05:38 giraffe is probably right up there. 05:39 Yep, giraffes, elephants... I go with the elephants, okay, 05:43 because I've never known an elephant that broke a hip 05:46 or broke a leg. 05:48 They have strong tusks that people really want 05:50 to collect and they make things out of these tusks. 05:53 But let's see, what does Mr. Elephant do 05:55 to keep his bones strong? 05:57 He walks - okay, many people don't walk enough today. 06:00 He drinks water - many people don't drink enough water today. 06:04 He eats greens - now he eats lots of greens, lots of greens! 06:09 Greens have magnesium, potassium, you get your 06:13 calcium in greens - those kinds of things and he stays 06:16 out in the sunshine, vitamin D! 06:19 So those are four things that I think people can do 06:22 to help their bones. 06:23 Now sometimes the bones wear out genetically, 06:25 but those four things can do it. 06:27 Now if a person has pathological fractures, 06:30 then let's say they're doing all these things 06:31 and in their genetics where their bones break early, 06:34 they have fractures a lot which cause lots of pains. 06:37 For spinal cords, we got some neat things that 06:40 we can do now, medically, to help with that pain. 06:42 One of them is called a "kyphoplasty" where we can 06:45 cement the bones. 06:47 Another - sometimes they have some supplements 06:49 that can help genetically, bones build up. 06:51 But the people that need that are in the minimum. 06:54 Most of the people just need to do the 06:55 four things I talked about, similar to what elephants do. 06:59 Sounds like some easy to implement advice there, 07:02 but stuff you have to be intentional about. 07:04 Yes you do! You know, you gotta move. 07:05 But people don't move as much; they don't eat the greens; 07:08 they don't drink enough water, 07:09 and they don't get out in the sunshine. 07:11 You put all those four things together 07:12 and the bones get weaker quicker. Yeah. 07:14 Alright, how about this one... 07:15 "What suggestions do you have for dealing with hair loss?" 07:18 That's one that I deal with myself sometimes. 07:22 Okay, hair loss. 07:24 So what are we going to do about it, doctor? 07:25 Yeah, I get that one fairly often and I'm not going to give 07:29 the right answer - I'm going to give different options 07:32 and people can choose from this. Alright. 07:34 First of all, most of hair loss is genetics, okay? 07:39 It runs in families, so it's in your genes, 07:42 so it's going to happen, okay? 07:43 Sometimes it can be due to a medicine. 07:47 We call the medical term for this is "alopecia." Alopecia. 07:52 Sometimes it can be due to rarely infections, 07:58 and thyroid abnormalities. 07:59 So those are some things it could be. 08:01 I'm sure there's many that I missed, but most of the 08:02 time it's male pattern baldness. 08:06 Here are some options the man has: 08:09 Do nothing - let the hair fall out. Sure. 08:11 Try not to be vain, it is what it is type of thing, okay? 08:15 Option #2... I've seen this one work very well. 08:18 Have your head shaved! 08:20 You know, shave your head and grow some things on the front 08:22 of your face that takes people's 08:24 attention off the top of your head. 08:25 You've got it growing down around 08:27 your chin, just let it grow there. 08:28 Yeah, that's one option. Okay? 08:30 #3... Some people do get hair transplants, the plugs. 08:34 They get some plugs put in there for that. 08:36 Now some of these ones that I don't recommend highly 08:39 that some people do, okay? 08:41 I don't recommend highly... is the special devices 08:45 that they put on their head, they get different special 08:47 devices - I don't really recommend that, 08:49 but there are some weaves that they can get in the head, 08:52 that if they're going to do that, the weaving ones 08:53 where they stitch it in seem to be more appropriately 08:56 than some of the old ones. 08:57 That is an option for some, I don't really 09:00 recommend it but it's some. 09:01 But what I want to talk to people about hair loss is... 09:04 why do you want the hair? 09:06 Is it to glorify yourself? 09:08 Is it to glorify God? 09:10 Is it to help what you're doing out and that's a 09:12 really good cause - if you need it to provide for your 09:14 family; if you need it to make your wife happy; 09:18 if you need it to seem younger, more vital to your children 09:21 so you can have a better... 09:22 Those are good reasons, to serve God, 09:24 those are good reasons, but I tell them - be careful 09:26 if it's about vanity. 09:27 If it's about, you know, just looking good on the outside, 09:30 you know, maybe you should reconsider some of those 09:33 things but there's lots of things on the internet and 09:37 TV you see about hair... "Put this, rub this 09:41 combination on and it will grow." 09:43 Whether that be Rogaine or any of the different 09:45 hair tonics - you know, Uncle Joe's Hair Tonic, 09:48 that you see a lot of commercials and guys will 09:51 come in and show - "This is what I was before; 09:53 this is what I was after." 09:54 Most of those, I've heard from my patients, that have tried 09:57 that do not work - do not work. 10:01 I'm not going to say all of them don't work, 10:04 but some of them might work because the people 10:06 believe they're going to work, but most of them 10:07 do not work and they do have side effects. Right. 10:10 They do have side effects. 10:11 So that's sort of my approach to hair loss. 10:14 I get that fairly often. 10:16 I just wish in my own personal life, I could transplant 10:19 the cells in my ear and my nose on to my bald spot 10:23 because then that would take care of that problem, 10:25 but so far, we don't have the technology to do that. 10:27 Well, that's all the questions we're going to cover for now, 10:30 but if you have questions, we invite you to go to the 10:31 website: HeartwiseMinistries.org 10:34 There's lots of resources there that you can use. 10:37 There are radio programs; television programs; 10:39 we have a prayer form where you can list your prayer 10:41 requests and join in praying for others. 10:43 Dr. Marcum writes a monthly newsletter and offers 10:47 current ideas about health and lots of good ideas 10:51 there that you can use to help change your lifestyle, 10:54 better connect with worship to help improve your health... 10:56 And, Dr. Marcum, what's another 10:58 resource that you'd like to mention today? 11:00 Well there's just so many others and the one I want to 11:02 emphasize more than any other resources they've heard... 11:05 You know, you've heard about the website; 11:07 you've heard about this, but this is the resource 11:10 I want to refer people to, it's the Bible. 11:13 I want to encourage people every day to open this Book 11:17 and to read something and to learn and to apply it 11:21 to their lives and to share it with someone. 11:23 I want this to be the medical textbook, 11:25 the resource that we turn to first for our health 11:28 problems, for our relationship 11:30 problems to our financial problems. 11:32 I think this is a great resource - I turn to it. 11:35 It has really changed my life and I think if people 11:38 will do it just like they eat breakfast every day, 11:40 if they will turn to Christ every day; live in a state of 11:43 worship - it will change your life too. 11:45 Yeah, you know, when we find our identity in Christ, 11:48 we don't have to worry about hair loss; 11:49 we don't have to worry about death even because 11:51 we know that eternally, our salvation 11:54 is secured with Christ. 11:55 Well said, Nick - well said. 11:56 Dr. Marcum, thank you for answering these questions. 11:58 I know our viewers appreciate it. 11:59 And thank you for joining us today. 12:01 Dr. Marcum will conclude the program 12:03 in just a moment with a prayer. 12:12 We spent a lot of time today answering 12:15 people's medical questions, and you might have some 12:18 questions that I can help you with, 12:20 and I want to encourage you to go to the sites we 12:21 mentioned, especially the HeartwiseMinistries.org site. 12:26 But greater than that, I want to refer you to the text 12:29 in James where it says, "If any of you lack knowledge, 12:33 let him come to God." 12:35 What a wonderful text! 12:36 What a wonderful God we serve that we can 12:39 come to Him for anything! 12:41 You know, we can come to Him with any of our questions 12:44 regardless what it might be, and I want to encourage 12:46 you, if you have a health question; 12:48 a lifestyle question; want to know how to use 12:51 a medication or which doctor to go to or which 12:53 provider to see - go to God, He is going to 12:56 promise that He is going to help you along the way. 12:59 Now as we end today, let's bow our heads and thank Him 13:02 and praise Him for all He has done for us. 13:06 Heavenly Father... Thank You for giving us the minds 13:09 that we can ask questions and that You will let us 13:12 come to you with our questions in life and You're 13:15 always there for us. 13:17 We want to thank You for that. 13:18 We want to praise Your name and thank You for 13:20 Your Son that gives us life and that gives us truth, Father. 13:24 And we want to pray for every person out there, 13:27 their health needs, be especially close to them, 13:29 and help them to feel Your presence 13:31 at this very moment, Father and Your healing power. 13:34 Now go with us this day and help us to be happy 13:37 and spread Your love to all we meet... Is our prayer, Amen. 13:42 Well thank you for joining me and, hopefully, 13:45 we answered your questions. 13:47 There are going to be more questions and there are 13:49 going to be more programs that we have to answer. 13:51 So if you have a specific question, don't be 13:53 hesitant to ask because, remember, there are no 13:56 stupid questions - we all want to help each other 13:59 in this journey that we're going through. 14:00 I'm Dr. James Marcum wishing you the best of health! |
Revised 2019-04-11