Wonderfully Made

When The Heart Attacks

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: James Marcum & Danny Miller

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Series Code: WM

Program Code: WM000382


00:35 "Praise God for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!"
00:38 That's what the psalmist, David, exclaimed...
00:42 Welcome to "Wonderfully Made"
00:45 I'm Dr. Jim Marcum
00:46 I'm glad you're taking time out of your busy schedule
00:48 to be here with us.
00:49 Today we have a very important topic that affects almost
00:52 everyone in the United States
00:55 The rates of heart disease, heart attacks,
00:57 and complicated problems are going UP
00:59 You would not believe how many people are affected
01:01 by this topic every day.
01:03 We're going to be talking about "when the heart attacks today"
01:06 I'm so glad to have with me as my guest, Daniel Miller.
01:09 Dan, thank you for being here...
01:10 Thank you, Jim, nice to be here.
01:13 Well tell me a little bit about "Heartwise Ministries"
01:16 Heartwise Ministries is a ministry that has been created
01:21 or naturally come out of the books that you've produced
01:26 It's a ministry that has been created to introduce
01:32 a different train of thought, or line of thinking
01:35 into the health and spiritual ministry area.
01:39 So it's with health and it's going into the
01:42 spiritual side... Correct...
01:44 So we're sort of marrying the 2
01:46 together that gives better understanding... Right
01:47 Well that's great.
01:49 Our topic today is we're going to talk about a heart attack
01:52 and I understand we've collected questions from
01:54 all over the world regarding this tough topic.
01:58 We have, but before we get into that...
02:00 I've got kind of a snippet...
02:02 I've read some information and got some statistics
02:05 that are kind of interesting and I thought you might be
02:08 interested in it.
02:10 In the United States, every year, we spend
02:15 as Americans, 2.2 trillion dollars on healthcare per year
02:20 2.2 Wow! That's an amazing amount to me
02:23 In 2006 alone, we had an estimated 900,000 heart attacks
02:30 That's almost a million heart attacks a year
02:32 and we only have 300 million people here. Right...
02:34 So, you know, you've got 900,000 total
02:39 ...break it down, you've got 600,000 new heart attacks
02:44 300,000 of those are either 2nd, 3rd or 4th heart attack
02:49 So it's a situation where once you have the 1st heart attack,
02:53 it seems like it's still being repeated past that point
02:59 Out of this number, 42% died. 42%?
03:06 That's within about the first year, right? Right
03:09 Wow, that's an amazing number.
03:11 I mean, it really is staggering when you think of it...
03:13 just think... how big is your town?
03:18 Around the world, and this is another little bit of
03:19 information.. Around the world, 13 million people die
03:23 of cardiac disease very year. 13 million... wow
03:27 That's several large towns rolled into one...
03:29 Yeah, it's just an amazing number.
03:31 During the first half of the 21st century,
03:34 we're going to be looking at 1 billion deaths from
03:38 heart-related conditions.
03:39 I've heard that, and actually the prevalence every year
03:42 you know, is going up. Right
03:44 So this is a really important topic,
03:46 and I'm hoping that everyone out there that's listening
03:49 is going to tune-in because we don't want you to have
03:52 a heart attack, and we want you to
03:54 know a lot more about this subject.
03:56 It seems like it's an epidemic.
03:57 And I don't hear as much about heart disease,
04:00 as some other more trendy disease... Right
04:02 And just some of these statistics are why
04:06 Heartwise Ministries has been created.
04:08 Wow, well that's great... It's kind of interesting.
04:11 What we generally do when we get together
04:13 is take questions from people around the world basically. Okay
04:17 And we answer their questions. Okay...
04:21 And we try to give them an unbiased answer... Correct
04:25 Okay, well good... Let's go to some of these questions.
04:27 Okay, #1, "I'm a 50-year-old female with a family history
04:32 of both heart disease, and breast cancer"
04:34 Both parents suffered heart attacks in their 50s
04:37 "I worry about my health all the time"
04:40 "Someone told me my risk of having heart disease was
04:43 MUCH greater than breast cancer"
04:46 "Which is the greater risk?"
04:49 Okay, and that was from Chris, in Rome, Georgia
04:54 Well Chris, through the years, cancer has scared people
05:00 dramatically, and as it should...
05:03 But the prevalence's of heart disease,
05:05 cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attacks,
05:09 strokes, heart failure,
05:11 the funny heartbeats called "arrhythmias"
05:13 these have been increasing at far greater rate...
05:16 In fact, in women, the chance of having
05:19 heart-related disease is
05:21 GREATER than ALL of the diseases COMBINED!
05:24 Any disease that a female might have...
05:26 HEART DISEASE is far greater than all of them...
05:29 And if you look at the prevalences,
05:30 this is a major problem in America today...
05:32 we just NOT talking enough about this.
05:34 Are you telling me that that's a myth...
05:36 Why is it that the general public believes other than that?
05:41 Well, I think that, for females, breast cancer is a scary thing
05:46 ...it's very personal
05:47 It affects their whole, you know their figure...
05:50 It affects the way they look.
05:52 We heard a lot about this through the years...
05:54 and, so breast cancer awareness is very high.
05:56 And what we're trying to do is,
05:58 based on the numbers and statistics, let people know
06:01 that, no... we need to ALSO...
06:02 Now, you know, I'm not saying we should not focus on
06:05 breast cancer, but we also need to focus on the treatment,
06:09 prevention and awareness of cardiovascular disease...
06:12 Does it help Chris, to worry about the situation?
06:14 No it does not help to worry about this,
06:16 but it does help to be aware...
06:18 Because when you start being aware that there's a problem...
06:20 a lot of people out there think that they're not
06:22 even at risk of having a heart attack.
06:24 Those are the people we want to REACH the most.
06:27 And in this show and in the next show,
06:29 we're really going to talk about people...
06:31 What can I do right now in my life that may prevent
06:35 ME from having heart attack,
06:36 and being another one of these statistics.
06:38 You know, every day I hear about someone that
06:41 falls over suddenly from a heart attack...
06:43 whether it be an athlete, or a personal friend,
06:45 and we can stop this if we... there are ways to correct that
06:50 ...90% of heart attacks are preventable... 90%
06:54 and only 10% are purely genetics.
06:56 Well I have heard that 90% of most cardio-disease
07:00 is acquired... which is basically putting it back in our
07:04 court as far as our producing that problem.
07:09 So, Chris, I want to get back to your question...
07:11 As far as which is the greater risk,
07:13 ...Your risk from dying of heart disease is greater
07:17 than you dying of breast cancer...
07:18 in general, if there's no family history... Right
07:22 That's a good question.
07:23 All right, our 2nd question comes from
07:25 Ray in Flint, Michigan.
07:28 "The other day, while at work,
07:29 I had a funny feeling in my chest; this occurred after
07:33 I ate lunch but lasted for several hours. "
07:37 "Could I have had a heart attack?"
07:39 You know, Jim, my first thought that goes through my brain is
07:44 ...Where did you eat lunch, Ray?
07:45 ...Was it, you know, like at Taco Bell?
07:47 Oh yeah, Ray, I mean you got some bad food...
07:50 Ray could have gotten... You never know... too many chips
07:54 I hate to digress, but
07:56 right now, Ray, we're going to digress a second...
07:58 Did you know that 80 million people eat fast food every day.
08:02 Ray, you could have had some indigestion, no doubt about that
08:06 But you ALSO could have had a heart attack...
08:08 And that brings up... A lot of people don't even know
08:11 what symptoms of a heart attack are...
08:13 Dan, do you know what the symptoms of a
08:14 heart attack would be?
08:15 I would assume tightness of chest... Yes
08:18 Pain radiating down your left arm. Um hm
08:25 Shortness of breath. That's right
08:26 Not able to take a deep breath
08:31 I would assume would be one of the symptoms. Yeah
08:34 Pain in the back...
08:35 Well, you're doing pretty good with this, Dan
08:37 You must have been coached a little bit.. Taking a shot at it
08:39 Well anyway, Ray, any abnormal symptom that goes on
08:44 for a prolonged period of time...
08:45 And I've seen just about everything at practicing as a
08:49 cardiologist... from chest pain, to chest comfort,
08:52 to numbness in either arm, to an indigestion-like feeling,
08:55 to sudden shortness of breath,
08:57 to becoming overly fatigued, and tired...
08:59 But any prolonged symptom basically above the waist
09:03 COULD be a heart attack.
09:05 And you know, I almost always...
09:07 People will tell me when they're having a heart attack
09:09 most definitely... they think something is not right.
09:12 Now the older people, and diabetics have very
09:15 atypical symptoms...
09:16 Now when I say "atypical," everyone thinks...
09:18 "Oh, if I'm not having chest pain,
09:20 I can't be having a heart attack. "
09:22 But this indigestion, Ray, you know,
09:23 it might have been true indigestion,
09:25 or you might have been having a heart attack.
09:27 So any prolonged symptom that goes on for several hours
09:31 ...that's unexplained, if I were you, Ray,
09:34 I would get it checked out.
09:36 Now after you ate lunch, that could have been... acid reflux
09:41 ...yeah, it could have been indigestion
09:42 You know, I have some people that just pass gas...
09:44 and then it just sort of gets caught in there
09:47 for a long time, and they don't know why...
09:48 But I would still, with these statistics,
09:50 I would want to make sure I'm not having a heart attack.
09:55 Maybe Ray should pack his lunch next time...
09:58 just pack a lunch and not worry about it.
10:01 Let's go to question #3... from Dave in Idaho
10:04 Dave writes in and he says, "Is it possible to have a
10:08 heart attack without any cholesterol blockages?"
10:11 "My buddy and I were talking about basketball players
10:14 who have died suddenly. "
10:15 "Also, is there a test to tell WHO will suffer a heart attack?"
10:20 You know, this kind of goes on all the time...
10:23 We hear of football, basketball, a lot of young people
10:27 having problems like this... Right
10:29 Dying on the field... Is there anything that...
10:34 Yeah, let's sort of break Dave's question into 3 parts
10:38 Dave, the first thing is...
10:39 Is it possible to have a heart attack without any cholesterol
10:43 blockages?
10:44 The answer to that question is "Yes"
10:46 What would be some of the reasons that would lead to that?
10:49 The most common reason that we have...
10:51 when there are no blockages, is a spasm.
10:54 Let me just back up and for our audience,
10:56 the most common way we have a heart attack is
10:59 we have the small cholesterol plaque
11:02 usually less than 50% in diameter,
11:04 that ruptures. Right
11:06 And, Dan, if I cut you here, what would you do with your skin
11:10 Start to bleed. Right, you'd start to bleed,
11:12 but then sooner or later, you'd start to clot off... Right
11:15 Well, when a cholesterol plaque ruptures,
11:17 that process is going on in the artery of the heart.
11:20 Okay, so it's interior. Right
11:21 And sooner or later, you've got that clot...
11:23 no blood goes out... that has a heart attack.
11:25 Most heart attacks are like that
11:27 Even in young people now, they're starting to
11:29 get these plaques.
11:31 Now, what would be the reason for that?
11:34 Is it because they don't eat properly? Exercise? Yes
11:37 It's usually they don't eat well...
11:39 their diets... hypertension, diabetes, all these things
11:42 that can contribute to that. Right
11:44 So that's the most common cause.
11:46 Another type of heart attack is when the arteries just
11:48 gradually builds up with cholesterol until they're just
11:51 all clogged up.
11:53 But in the young people, sometimes we have this
11:55 phenomenon called "spasm"
11:57 That's where the artery shuts down, no blood goes through...
12:00 you have a heart attack!
12:01 Which people are at higher risk for that?
12:04 If you remember, several years ago,
12:07 the basketball player, Lenny Bias
12:09 He was from the University of Maryland, I think.
12:11 He had drugs in his system that caused the artery to spasm down
12:17 Drugs can cause this to happen...
12:18 Methamphetamines...
12:20 Some people that have cigarettes can have spasm.
12:22 It's been reported that people that have low oxygen levels
12:26 ...you get up really high, you know, high altitudes
12:29 The have a chance to have those arteries...
12:30 Maybe exercising at high altitudes?
12:32 That can cause spasm.
12:33 Now another type of heart attack that we RARELY see is
12:36 when a blood clot from somewhere else in the body
12:39 floats into an artery... so that's a rare one.
12:41 So, Dave, you can have a heart attack without cholesterol
12:46 blockages even though it's not the most common way to have it.
12:49 Now what was his next question?
12:51 His other one was... "Is there a test to tell
12:54 who will suffer a heart attack?
12:55 That's kind of an interesting question because
12:57 we ALL would like to take that test...
12:59 No one can tell who is going to have a heart attack,
13:02 and who doesn't.
13:03 You can be sitting here fine one second,
13:05 and if you had a plaque that ruptured,
13:06 you could have a heart attack.
13:08 However, there are things that put a person at a higher risk
13:11 of having a heart attack.
13:13 We're going to talk about those a little bit more later.
13:16 Now, getting back to the basketball players...
13:18 Most of them that die suddenly don't necessarily
13:21 die of a heart ATTACK.
13:23 They frequently have these rhythm problems...
13:25 They're called "arrhythmias"
13:27 and it's usually because they have an abnormal heart.
13:29 Either the heart has had an infection,
13:31 like a virus that hurts it...
13:32 they have a congenital abnormality...
13:34 they have some electrical problems...
13:36 Most of the young people have these electrical problems
13:38 that predispose them to dying suddenly.
13:41 What is an electrical problem?
13:42 Well, an electrical problem is the wires
13:46 that make your heart pump.
13:47 For some reason, you know, the signals aren't doing well
13:51 and the heart either pumps too fast, usually...
13:53 doesn't fill up with blood,
13:55 doesn't pump blood to your body
13:56 because the electrical system is like a series of wires
13:59 doesn't work well... Okay
14:00 Then, you're put out of rhythm... That's right
14:03 And that's how most of the young, young people
14:06 pass away suddenly from heart disease...
14:08 And now, they're even talking about making athletes
14:10 have some screening EKGs and maybe even...
14:13 physical, before they... get into the program
14:15 get into the program... And it's a big deal...
14:17 you always hear about a young athlete that dies
14:19 I mean, it always makes the media attention... Right
14:22 But heart attacks are FAR more common than that
14:25 phenomena happening...
14:26 So I hope that answered your question, Dave
14:29 No test to tell for heart attack
14:30 I think that's the key point for Dave... Okay
14:32 All righty... question #4 is from John in Newport, Arkansas
14:39 His question is... and if you'd like, we can break this up
14:43 into 2 or 3 different questions... Okay
14:44 I'll just ask you the first to start out with... Okay
14:47 "How do cardiologists determine if you have had a heart attack?"
14:51 And I'm assuming, John, that you mean an old heart attack"
14:55 If you're having a new heart attack,
14:59 the way we tell, is your symptoms...
15:00 are you having symptoms?
15:02 We check your EKG.
15:03 If we're still not sure, there's some blood work we can do
15:07 to see if there's been heart damage.
15:09 There's also a sound-wave test that we can use to see
15:12 if the heart is moving or not.
15:13 Can you visually see that in one of these tests? Yes...
15:16 We can visually see whether the heart is moving,
15:18 and if it's having a heart attack, it's not moving...
15:20 It's that one part of the muscle that has died doesn't move then
15:22 That's exactly right.
15:23 We can even put dye up in the arteries of the heart to see
15:26 if it's completely blocked off.
15:28 That's what we do usually acutely.
15:32 Let's say, Dan, you come to me and you say...
15:34 "I think I had a heart attack a week ago... I had a lot of
15:36 chest pain, I stayed at home"
15:38 "You know, I don't know if I did. "
15:40 Well the first thing I would do, after taking your history...
15:42 is I would do an EKG... Right
15:44 There are some characteristic findings on an EKG
15:47 that can tell me if you had a heart attack.
15:49 Can you have a normal EKG and have a heart attack?
15:52 Yes, you can!
15:53 So there are some other tests we can do...
15:55 One that we can do is a sound-wave test to see if
15:58 that heart was dead and not moving.
15:59 There's a test where we can inject a nuclear substance
16:03 that goes throughout the heart to see if it's been damaged
16:05 Now how does a nuclear substance I don't understand it...
16:08 What a nuclear substance is...
16:09 We'd start an IV, and we can put the substance that would go
16:12 inside the heart...
16:13 Why do they call it... "nuclear"
16:15 Because it's radioactive. Okay
16:16 It's a radioactive substance.
16:17 We have a series of cameras that takes pictures of the heart
16:21 and, depending on how that tracer goes through the heart,
16:24 it doesn't go to the parts that have been damaged... Okay
16:27 And it would show up on our pictures...
16:28 Then I could say, "Listen, 3 or 4 weeks ago,
16:31 you had a heart attack. "
16:32 So we can tell if you've had a heart attack...
16:34 and that might even make us decide to change treatment,
16:37 or even do some more testing on you.
16:39 But it gives you a benchmark to start at... That's right
16:43 Okay, the other part of John's question was...
16:46 He was told by his doctor that he had had a heart attack.
16:50 He has never felt poorly, and works construction every day.
16:57 He said, "I put the 20 to 30 year olds to shame"
17:02 Wow, he's a pretty strong man... Yeah, I guess!
17:05 The main reason he's writing this question is...
17:07 He says, "I'm 55, and I was wondering if this would
17:10 be a problem with my insurance. "
17:12 Well, it could be... it could be
17:14 All the time, I get people in my office, and they say...
17:17 "Someone has told me that I've had a heart attack"
17:20 And if you put that on the insurance...
17:22 you now have a preexisting medical problem. A record
17:25 So it's really important to get this cleared up.
17:28 So, John, what I usually do in this case,
17:31 is say, "I'm not sure whether you had a heart attack or not,
17:34 but there are some tests we can do...
17:35 the tests we talked about... Let's find out if you did.
17:38 Now, unfortunately, if you did have a heart attack,
17:41 it might affect your insurance...
17:43 but a lot of times, people have not had a heart attack
17:46 and we say, "No, it was just indigestion or something else. "
17:49 Does John have any input, or is it possible for John to
17:53 ask questions regarding this before it's put
17:55 onto his past record?
17:57 Yes, that is, but that's a tricky matter,
18:01 and it really just depends on your insurance.
18:04 Some insurance will not pay for this...
18:06 they're paying for the test, and they usually want to have
18:09 access to it, and every year when your insurance comes up
18:13 there's some type of physical and review...
18:15 So it really varies, but it's hard nowadays to hide something
18:20 from insurance companies...
18:21 And most of them, will work with you. Correct
18:24 So I hope that answered John's questions...
18:27 and John is from Newport, Arkansas,
18:29 weren't you from Arkansas, Dan?
18:30 Yeah, we're from northwest Arkansas. That's what I thought!
18:33 Appreciate your bringing that up! Yeah, okay...
18:37 Let's move to the next question then...
18:38 #5 is from Daniel in Australia
18:42 He says, "My family moved to Australia years ago"
18:46 He tries to live healthfully.
18:48 He said, "I know my heart attacks are common"
18:51 Obviously, he has them...
18:53 Or, he said, "I know heart attacks are common", I'm sorry
18:57 "What should be done if I think I'm having a heart attack"
19:02 Well, it depends where you're at... I guess
19:05 I mean, for instance, in your car... that's one of the worse
19:08 places to have a heart attack.
19:10 Usually, the people that have heart attacks in the car,
19:14 usually, we don't even know that they've had a heart attack
19:18 ...because they WRECK!
19:20 They wreck and die, and we don't know exactly what caused it
19:24 ...but a lot of wrecks, unexplained wrecks, could be
19:27 heart attacks... from them Right
19:29 Now, if you think you're having a heart attack in the car,
19:32 Daniel, the first thing I would do...
19:35 Okay, the first thing we'd recommend is...
19:37 The first thing I would do is PRAY.. I would pray
19:39 I would pray for divine healing.
19:42 Some people, some naturalists out there say...
19:45 you know... cayenne pepper.
19:46 If you have some cayenne pepper you might choke that down,
19:48 and that might prevent it... I don't think that's going to hurt
19:51 But what I think what's going to help immediately
19:52 is pulling over so you don't put someone else in danger
19:56 ...getting help If you have a cell phone,
19:58 or can flag someone down... 911
20:01 And in the process, if you can COUGH...
20:03 Do a lot of FORCEFUL COUGHING
20:05 and DEEP BREATHING, sometimes that can keep a heart going
20:09 ESPECIALLY if you're going to get into
20:11 a dangerous rhythm problem.
20:12 What does the coughing do to affect your heart
20:15 if you're in that situation?
20:16 A couple of things... the coughing, if you go into a
20:18 dangerous rhythm, the COUGH could set the heart back
20:22 into a normal rhythm.
20:25 It's sort of like being defibrillated... Right, it could
20:27 Another thing that the coughing does is it helps push blood
20:30 up to the brain so you don't pass out
20:33 because if you're having a heart attack,
20:34 you want blood to get to your brain as long as you can
20:37 so you can get help.
20:39 Now there's a narrow window when you're having a heart
20:41 attack... You could pass out, you might NOT pass out.
20:44 What does that involve, the narrow window?
20:47 Well, if you do happen to pass out...
20:49 that means the blood is not getting to your head.
20:51 It's a pretty bad situation. Right
20:53 And it's usually caused, not so much by the heart being weak,
20:56 but the rhythm that this damage causes...
20:58 The heart is going so FAST, blood can't get to your head
21:01 You pass out. Okay
21:03 So, the cough will help blood get to your head...
21:05 But once you pass out, you've got about 6 good minutes
21:08 if someone can restore blood flow,
21:10 you're not going to have significant damage.
21:12 But after that 6 minute window goes by,
21:15 you're going to have some serious problems.
21:17 But it's good... I think, for people...
21:19 You know, we talked earlier how common cardiovascular disease is
21:24 If you sort of have a plan in your head...
21:26 You know, a lot of people now, Have an emergency plan... Right
21:28 They have cell phones that go with them on the trip
21:31 Even some people that are high risk, they carry defibrillators
21:34 around, so people would have that if they do it.
21:36 Now that's if you're alone. Right
21:38 Now let's say that Dan is with someone else... Okay
21:41 Well if Dan is with someone else, that person
21:44 can stay with Dan and help get that...
21:46 Now, I had a person not too long ago that was hiking
21:49 far away, and had a heart attack Out in the middle of nowhere!
21:52 Yeah, but they did have their cell phone, and they were able
21:55 to activate that and someone came and got to help them.
21:57 Luckily it wasn't a bad heart attack,
21:59 and they were live through that.
22:01 So I hope, Dan, that that gives you a little insight of what
22:05 you can do to sort of help the situation out.
22:10 All righty... Let's go on to our next question
22:13 It's from Mary, in Hilo, Hawaii
22:16 Is that how it's pronounced? Hilo? I have no idea.
22:18 I've never been to Hawaii.
22:20 She says that... "My brother, Patrick, had a heart attack,
22:23 and he was walking around the same day in his hospital room. "
22:26 "Why do they keep you in the hospital for so many days
22:30 after the heart attack?
22:31 I've got a theory on this... Okay
22:33 I'm convinced that the nurses totally enjoy you walking around
22:38 with no back on your gown!
22:40 OH, that's not TRUE, Dan!
22:42 You know, to change the subject, I don't know why they haven't
22:45 invented something a little bit more modest...
22:48 And if there are any viewers out there...
22:49 that would be an EXCELLENT thing to invent... is a gown
22:52 It's very uncomfortable...
22:53 Not only for the person wearing it, but the person there.
22:55 Let's get back to Patrick's problem here.
22:58 Mary, they kept them in the hospital for
23:00 so many days for a couple of reasons...
23:01 Used to... they kept people in the hospital for a long time.
23:05 They used to have bed rest,
23:07 and if you remember, several years ago,
23:08 President Eisenhower, he had a lot of heart attacks,
23:11 and he was bed rested for a long time.
23:14 But nowadays, we have all these
23:15 ways to deal with acute heart attacks...
23:17 For instance, if you're having a heart attack now
23:19 and get in there within 5 or 6 hours,
23:21 frequently, we can restore the blood flow to the heart
23:24 and there's no damage at all. Right
23:26 ...if you get in quick enough.
23:28 We have balloons with stents in them to open up the arteries
23:31 Sometimes in some situations around the world,
23:33 they give medicines to break up the blood clots
23:36 so blood gets through.
23:37 Those instances, people usually go home fairly soon
23:40 because we've aborted the damage.
23:43 ...And that's what we call the BATTLE! Right
23:45 The initial battle of having heart disease.
23:47 In other instances, Mary, what happens is
23:51 there has been some damage,
23:52 and when there's damage done,
23:54 the heart needs to heal.
23:55 Dan, if you broke your arm, you wouldn't just start moving it
23:59 the next day... No, not to work the next day, no.
24:02 Right, you would rest it. Right
24:03 Well the same principle goes with the heart.
24:05 When the heart is damaged, we like to rest it.
24:08 We like to keep a person in bed rest.
24:10 Also, we can see how things heal.
24:12 Sometimes, in the healing process, if there's been damage,
24:15 a scar forms, and the scar itself can generate
24:18 a dangerous rhythm. Okay...
24:21 Because it affects the muscle?
24:23 Well, the scar is in the muscle, but the electrical system
24:27 used to go through that... Okay
24:28 Sometimes a scar... A scar blocks the electrical
24:31 rhythm... No, it can generate an
24:33 abnormal rhythm. Okay, okay
24:35 It can generate an abnormal rhythm
24:36 that can be dangerous to you.
24:37 That usually happens day 3 to 5 from a heart attack.
24:40 Sometimes as the heart heals, it gets bigger
24:43 and the valves start to leak.
24:44 Sometimes if a muscle is dead, you could actually...
24:48 a hole could come in it...
24:50 and blood could leak from chamber to chamber,
24:52 or something that's very fatal, is if a scar forms
24:55 on the lateral part of the outside of the heart
24:57 ...the heart muscle itself could rupture,
24:59 and blood could start leaking out of the heart.
25:02 So what do you do to protect that once that happens?
25:05 That is usually fatal. Okay
25:07 For instance, if you were...
25:09 and this is something that is totally unrelated,
25:11 but I thought I'd bring it up...
25:12 If you had something impaled in your heart,
25:15 okay... like we heard about the stingray recently
25:18 If you had a stingray in your heart, okay...
25:20 and it's gone through the chambers,
25:22 and if you pull that out, what's going to happen?
25:24 It allows all the blood to gush out... That's right
25:26 But if you leave that in...
25:28 If you're impaled and leave that in,
25:29 that at least... plugs the hole in the dyke
25:32 But if the heart muscle springs a leak in it,
25:35 what we have to do IMMEDIATELY is repair that leak
25:38 and that's in open heart surgery... That's major
25:41 But usually, we can't get to the patient in time when
25:43 that has happened. Okay
25:45 So, getting back to Mary's question,
25:47 the reason we do this is because we want to monitor
25:49 for those side effects, and also see how
25:51 the patient does with medications and treatments
25:54 and start educating them on how to take care of their heart
25:56 Education is probably the #1 thing... Yes it is
25:59 along with medication... And that's what Heartwise Ministries
26:01 is about... is about educating people.
26:03 But not so much that have the acute thing,
26:05 but chronically.
26:06 We want to prevent this problem from happening.
26:07 And give them tools, basically in their toolbox
26:13 to help themselves, because that's what it's all about.
26:16 ...#7 is from Tressa in Lake Charles, Louisiana
26:22 Lake Charles, I know where that is.
26:23 She says, "The day after my 50th wedding anniversary,
26:26 I had a heart attack"
26:27 "Is it possible to have another heart attack?"
26:30 Yeah, Tressa... in fact, if you've had a first heart attack,
26:33 the chances of you having a second heart attack
26:36 is even higher.
26:37 I think that goes back to our percentages that we were
26:40 talking about when we started this show, was 2nd, 3rd and 4th
26:43 And what I view, Dan, is I view the initial heart attack is
26:47 the battle... You know, that's the battle that has to be fought
26:50 initially... And usually that battle
26:52 needs modern medicine. Right
26:54 You know, a balloon or stent.
26:56 But then the second part, is after they cover from
26:58 the heart attack... At least, Tressa, we never
27:00 want her to have a heart attack again.
27:02 That's when we start looking at the war.
27:04 We look at all the things that could cause or precipitate
27:08 a heart attack... Different things we can control
27:11 And when you look in the big picture of things that are
27:13 bothering the world today, as your statistics have shown,
27:17 heart disease is a WAR!
27:19 It's greater than any war anywhere!
27:22 And, this needs to be talked about, thought about,
27:25 and prevented.
27:26 So, what we try to do is get people to think about the war
27:28 All those causes that might cause her to have a heart attack
27:32 Interesting...
27:33 Well Tressa, I hope that answers your question
27:36 And, you know, Dan, unfortunately,
27:38 we're running out of time in talking about a heart attack.
27:40 Well, it's been a good time.
27:41 It's been a pleasure, but I want to leave the
27:43 audience with one thing...
27:45 The more you learn about this disease,
27:47 the better prepared you are not only to prevent it,
27:50 but to deal with it.
27:51 And I want to thank the listeners at this time
27:54 for talking to us.
27:55 Dan, I thank you for being here on "Wonderfully Made"
27:57 And we want to keep God in our thoughts
27:59 because we are, INDEED, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!


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Revised 2014-12-17