Participants: Nick Evenson (Host), Dr. James Marcum
Series Code: UP
Program Code: UP000077A
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00:17 Have you ever considered the importance of relationships
00:20 for your health, even relationships with your pets? 00:22 Stay with us as Dr. Marcum explains in a moment. 00:26 I'm Dr. James Marcum. 00:27 Are you interested in discovering the reason why? 00:31 Do you want solutions to your healthcare problem? 00:34 Are you tired of taking medications? 00:37 Well, you're about to be given "The Ultimate Prescription" 00:42 Thank you for joining us on today's program. 00:44 I'm your host, Nick Evenson, and on today's program 00:46 we're going to talk about relationships, 00:48 and relationships with pets. 00:49 Dr. Marcum, do relationships with your pets 00:52 really help your health? 00:53 Yeah Nick, they do help your health, 00:56 and we're going to explain why, but also, I want to expand 00:59 on that and in this world we live in, 01:02 it seems like relationships are being devalued. 01:06 You know, it used to be that we used to have people over 01:09 to the house on a regular basis; we used to talk on the phone. 01:14 Now we even text each other all the time. 01:17 We used to go out and play with each other, 01:19 and talk to each other and visit relatives on the weekend, 01:22 or vacations - did you ever take a vacation 01:25 when you visit a relatives house? 01:27 Almost every vacation! 01:28 But it was a lot about relationships, 01:31 and there's something that God gave us about relationships 01:34 that helps our health. Right! 01:36 And we're going to talk a little bit about that, 01:37 but I think pets help our health... 01:40 And I want to ask you about your pet, Annabelle. 01:42 Yep, so we have a cat named Annabelle, 01:45 and she came to us just as a kitten. 01:47 We weren't really looking for a cat, but she found us, 01:49 and once my wife saw her, we just had to take her in. 01:52 And now every day you care for Annabelle's needs. 01:55 That's right, we sure do, even in the middle of the night 01:58 when she wakes us up. Right! 01:59 And so sometimes Annabelle is a pain, 02:01 but what if Annabelle was gone, 02:02 wouldn't you miss something? Oh certainly! 02:04 And you have some type of relationship with Annabelle. Yep 02:08 So I'm the same way with my dogs. 02:10 I was going to say, yeah, tell us about your dogs. 02:12 I have two pets; one is Max, and one is Daphne, 02:15 and they are Shorkies that's 02:16 half Shih Tzu and half Yorkshire Terriers. 02:19 And, originally, the kids, Nick, they begged for the dog... 02:23 "Oh, I want a dog, I want a dog, I want a dog... 02:25 We'll take care of it, we'll take care of everything." 02:27 Of course they will. So, I'm being the scientific 02:29 person that I am, I researched every breed 02:31 out there - you know, I wanted a breed that was 02:34 easy to take care of, that wouldn't get sick much, 02:36 that was small, but could stay in the house. Right 02:38 So we got Max and Daphne from the same mother, 02:42 and they were brother and sister 02:43 and they are half Yorkshire and half Shih Tzu. 02:46 And when they came, the kids didn't 02:48 take care of them every day. 02:49 So they ended up being a lot of my dogs, 02:51 and my wife does take care of them a lot. 02:53 I'll give her credit, she takes care of them. 02:55 But when I come home from work, 02:57 no matter how late I've worked, they're always 03:00 there to meet me at the door! 03:01 They follow me around until I go to bed; 03:03 they come and they need love; they lick me; they love me... 03:06 And no matter what I do, they love me unconditionally. 03:10 And through that exchange of love and service, 03:13 I can feel the stress in my body go down. 03:16 And, scientifically, what it does... 03:18 When we have relationships with animals, with our spouse, 03:21 with someone else, it makes chemicals called 03:23 "endorphins," that's very valuable for us. 03:27 Another chemical it makes is called "Oxytocin," 03:30 that's the chemical a female makes. 03:32 These are all very valuable chemicals to make us 03:34 feel better - to make us do better. 03:36 But I think the big thing it helps us when we have 03:38 relationships, it helps lower our stress level. 03:42 The chemicals like adrenalin and cortisol that go up 03:45 when we have a bad day. 03:46 For instance, you have a bad day, you come home 03:48 you talk to your wife, and you say, 03:51 "Wife, it didn't go so good," and that relationship 03:54 sort of helps do something good to happen to you. 03:57 And, sort of one of the keys to that relationship is love. 04:02 So I like to think of love as a 04:05 universal treatment for the body. Yeah 04:08 When you have love, it does things that we can't 04:10 explain for the good. 04:12 Now I had a patient that lost her spouse not too long ago, 04:19 no health problems at all before she lost her spouse... 04:22 But she lost her spouse and after that, 04:24 she had every symptom in the world - headaches, 04:26 blood pressure went up, heartbeats, she was scared 04:29 all the time - everything was going on and I figured 04:32 this was the stress from losing the spouse. Right 04:35 And I suggested that she get a dog. 04:38 And she got a little Chihuahua and you know 04:40 Chihuahuas are very smart. Really? 04:42 They're very smart dogs. I didn't know that. 04:44 I saw a movie once about Chihuahuas 04:46 where they were like running a country, 04:47 but they're very smart dogs. 04:49 I don't know if they're that smart. Sure, sure! 04:50 But Chihuahuas are very smart, Nick, 04:52 And she got the Chihuahua and guess what? 04:54 She had someone to care for, someone to love, 04:57 someone to have a relationship with; 04:59 she wasn't by herself all the time and guess what? 05:02 Headaches got better, 05:03 everything started getting better and she was happy again. 05:06 Now, not everyone needs a pet, but I think everyone needs 05:12 relationships. Yeah 05:13 We were designed originally to have relationships, 05:16 and we've known that people that don't have relationships 05:19 don't do as well from a health perspective. Right 05:22 So I think there's something very valuable about 05:24 having love in your life that helps change the 05:28 chemistry of the entire body. 05:29 I think it helps via the stress mechanisms. 05:31 Now, can you imagine, a study done, now they'll never do this, 05:36 a study that helps measure heart attacks or strokes 05:40 or blood pressure or not sleeping well, 05:42 or the use of medications in people that had relationships, 05:45 healthy relationships, loving relationships, 05:48 and people that don't have relationships. 05:49 Yeah, that would be fascinating. 05:51 And they could say, "Wow, the people that have love, 05:53 and have relationships that didn't text as much, 05:55 that spent more time with each other than watching media, 05:58 they did better from a health perspective. 06:00 And here are the reasons why... I would love to have that study. 06:04 Now, if we think about relationships with pets 06:07 that help us do better... you know when you pet the dog, 06:09 you feel better or the cat in your case or whatever, 06:12 when you care for that person, you feel better. 06:16 The same happens with when we have relationships with God. 06:20 You know, what a relationship that has in the ability 06:23 to heal us and to help us to do better chemically. 06:26 When we learn how to pray, when we learn how to trust. 06:30 The text in the Bible - we talked about this the other day, 06:33 "Be anxious about nothing," that text - when God 06:36 teaches us how to do that, takes control of our brain, 06:40 starts to love us and we do that by knowing God. 06:43 To love God is to know God. 06:45 So we've already seen some scientific studies 06:48 done that show when we have relationships with God, 06:51 worship it helps our chemistry, 06:53 and it's all via the stress mechanisms. 06:56 So we now have science that proves that relationships 06:59 at least with God are beneficial. Right 07:01 So I'd have to think if God made that relationship 07:04 to be beneficial with Him, the benefits with His creatures, 07:08 with His nature, with other beings on the earth 07:11 that He also created, healthy relationships could only 07:15 benefit our health through stress. Right 07:18 You know, it's all about the original design for us. 07:21 We were made to have relationships 07:22 and care for the rest of creation and when we do that 07:26 there are certain rewards to our health even. 07:28 Yeah, and we've seen people that in hospitals 07:30 that have pet therapy that are beneficial, 07:34 but I want to take it one step further and not only the 07:36 pets are helpful in relationships, 07:39 but relationships with other people - have friends, 07:42 have people that you like to do things with, 07:44 keep healthy... let's not have relationships 07:47 with boxes and games and media and electronics, 07:52 but it's turning into that Nick. Right 07:54 I see people all the time... I went to the restaurant 07:56 the other day and I admit, my kids were doing it... 07:59 Instead of talking with each other, they were doing stuff, 08:02 and I had to say, "No, we have media time out." 08:05 You're hurting your health when we don't have 08:07 relationship with each other. Right 08:09 Now that's healthy relationships. Right 08:10 Now some people have unhealthy relationships, 08:12 and that can damage your health. 08:14 Unfortunately, sometimes my wife has 08:16 unhealthy relationships with my pets. 08:18 Oh really, how's that? 08:21 What happens is... Max and Daphne sometimes 08:23 get out of control and they poop on our white carpet 08:25 in our bedroom. There's a problem... 08:27 And every time that happens, my wife, Sonja, threatens 08:30 to get rid of the pets, but I KNOW deep down 08:33 she loves them and they are improving her health! 08:34 Sure, sure. So pets are very important. 08:37 Now go ahead... I was just going to say, 08:39 before we get into the questions that have come in 08:41 to our website, let's talk about our first aid item for the day. 08:43 What are we going to add to the first aid kit? 08:45 You know, we've added different things to first aid kits, 08:48 and first aid is important not only to help us, 08:50 but to help other people and this is something that we 08:53 can get over-the-counter, you don't need a doctor's... 08:56 And these are "Celox Granules," and these have chemicals 09:03 in it that help the blood clot. 09:05 So if you're bleeding and put these granules in, 09:08 it helps the blood clot within 60 seconds. 09:10 It's easy to use - you just pour this in there, 09:13 and add some pressure to it, 09:15 okay, we got to add pressure to this, 09:17 and this gives great ability to clot. 09:20 These are some of the same chemicals that they use 09:24 on the field of battle. Okay 09:26 You know, when they have battle, they put these things in them 09:29 to stop the bleeding. 09:30 So these are something that we can use... 09:32 Look, "The technology used in battle." 09:34 Now I'm not trying to sell a product, 09:35 but this is something that's very useful that a person might 09:39 want to add to them, you never know 09:40 when you have a bad cut and you can't get it 09:42 stitched quick enough and you need to stop the bleeding. 09:45 So this is called "Celox Granules." 09:47 So this would be particularly beneficial for a larger 09:50 wound that maybe a band aid or 09:51 other types of bandage wouldn't necessarily work. 09:55 Put those granules in there, hold pressure. 09:56 Of course, we've talked about bandages and other things 09:58 that we add, but this is just another thing that if they 10:01 want to advance their kit even further 10:04 to carry even more medical items, so this would do it 10:07 until someone could sew it up or put a stitch in it. Right 10:10 Well it looks like a great item to have in an emergency 10:12 situation to help stop the bleeding. 10:13 Yes, it's very good to have, Nick, and you know, 10:15 a lot of people don't think, you know, when you do a 10:18 medical program that talking about relationships 10:20 and pets and relationships with each other, 10:23 and the word "love" is something that 10:26 has chemical benefits. 10:28 But I'm saying that when we develop love in our life, 10:31 when we have a relationship with our Heavenly Father, 10:33 it helps us to have better relationships with each other. 10:36 When we enjoy having relationships with a thing 10:38 He gave us on the earth whether it be pets... 10:40 Some people have relationships with plants, 10:43 do you know that? Really? Yes! 10:44 Some people have relationships with plants. 10:46 They have special plants in their houses 10:48 or they like to go out walking in the woods and see nature. 10:51 Remember, plants are living too. Things to care for. Yes! 10:53 There are things to care for. 10:55 And when you put someone else's interest above your own, 10:57 that's a definition of love. 11:00 And when you start doing that and God does that for a 11:03 plan for each one of us, there are real chemical 11:05 benefits not only in our brain, but there are real 11:07 physiologic changes and now we have science to prove that. 11:11 And this is something we want to add to our regimen. 11:13 We want to have good, healthy, happy relationships 11:16 with each other to improve our health, 11:18 and it also is now used to treat diseases. Right 11:22 We're going to be right back in a moment as Dr. Marcum 11:24 talks more about this subject 11:25 and help answer questions, so stay right with us. |
Revised 2016-10-13