Improved
6112 HealthChanged
3786 LivesSaved
3568 Lives0 lives impacted in the last 24 hrs Learn More
Dr. Ross introduces herself and shares why obesity is becoming more prevalent.
Dr. Ross:
Hi, I am Dr. Carolyn Ross and I am an integrated medicine and eating disorder specialist. I am board certified in addiction medicine and in preventive medicine. And in my practice, I see patients with eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder as well as women who are struggling with obesity. I also treat addictions and mood disorders with integrative therapies.
So why is there such an increase in obesity these days? That’s a very complex question and one of the components that we look at is genetics. Obesity is about 40-70% inherited and this is something that you may not think much about, but I liken this to salmon who have to swim upstream, you know, in order to survive. That’s the way people with the obesity gene are. They are constantly fighting against that genetic predisposition.
Now you put that in collision with the changes in our diet such as the marked increase in the use of high fructose corn syrup, the super sizing, the intensive availability of food that we have everywhere we look, and then that’s where you have that combination of two very, what do you call it, explosive factors that have created this obesity epidemic.
About Dr. Ross, M.D., M.P.H.:
Dr. Carolyn Ross, M.D., M.P.H., completed her undergraduate degree in Modern Foreign Languages at Purdue University and worked as a full-time mother of her two older sons before returning to school to complete her pre-med requirements. She then went to the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Ross’s practice experience after medical school helped fuel her interest in understanding what makes people heal as she saw that most of her patients’ medical problems were related to lifestyle habits and the stresses of modern living. In searching for a better way to address these issues, Dr. Ross began to explore complementary and alternative therapies and the use of herbs and supplements for her patients. She then completed a residency in Preventive Medicine at Loma Linda University and then set up practice in San Diego, California where she eventually opened three women’s centers where she practiced primary care and office gynecology.