BY DONNA CORVETTE, M.D. It was 1984, I was an enthusiastic young woman with a passion for healing, learning and an absolute thirst for knowledge. My dream was to become a physician, and I became an internist in 1991 and a dermatologist in 1997. Over the years, I began to notice an increase in the numbers of patients diagnosed with cardiovascular/cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, allergies, internal cancers, attention deficit disorders, autoimmune diseases, and Vitamin D deficiency. I questioned this trend and began my search for answers but could not find them in my medical journals or at my medical conferences. At my last dermatology conference, there was a lecture linking Vitamin D deficiency to creating a variety of ills. Silly, I thought; why make Vitamin D deficiency the scapegoat. To me, it had to be the worsening Standard American diet (SAD diet) and our increasing environmental toxins. I pondered how the human body eventually responds to a sedentary lifestyle filled with processed man-made “foods” with dyes, preservatives, plastics, teflon, unhealthy oils, genetically modified food, high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, chronic exposures to cell phones, computers and microwaves, overuse of antibiotics, and hormones. I found that there are those who agree that our […]
Nutrition
This article contains some pearls of wisdom I have learned from practicing medicine for half of my life and spending time with thousands of patients. Intuition is Everything: A patient should always believe and trust in their own instincts. Don’t let a provider tell you are fine if you think differently. No one knows your body better than you. Increased Pace of Medicine: The demands on physicians have increased exponentially over the years. So before you visit your doctor, prepare carefully. Create a one-page synopsis listing your medications, medical problems, allergies, hospitalizations and operations. Keep copies of your pathology reports, scans and laboratory results. Most patients assume this to be the responsibility of their physician. Not so, because some of your lab work may be in hospital system A and some in hospital system B. Your provider may only have access to half of your labs or information. Looking Younger: Are you thinking, “buy this laser procedure, add this filler to your face or put more botox in your system?” These procedures can certainly help, but the simple truth is “you are what you eat, drink and inhale” and sunshine destroys the skin. The skin never forgets a tan or […]