Physician offers patients food for thought — about food

Fuad Rahimee, M.D.’s direction to internal medicine started through nutrition. At Wayne State University, his first undergraduate degree was in Nutrition and Food Science. After learning the close connection to diet and how what is ingested affects the body and how it functions, he decided to continue schooling by studying medicine. It also has led him to heightened awareness and recommendations for his patients who are overweight.

With 60 percent of the U.S. population labeled obese, in private practice Dr. Rahimee is determined and focused on preventive medicine. He uses current screening tools to reduce the incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure and provide counsel through ongoing dialogue with patients. With obesity, he offers his patients a different perspective--that obesity is not necessarily their fault. He views this phenomena as a cultural responsibility of the type of food most available. Back in prior centuries, obesity was a disease of the rich because they could afford it, specifically sugary foods, breads, alcohol and access to purchase larger volumes. This was when many poor people did not have access, geographically or financially, to food. In the mind’s eye, one can picture the poor, thin and scraggly, walking to the market for fresh fruits and vegetables, because they couldn’t afford other items. Dr. Rahimee notes, the availability trend has reversed. So much variety and so many goodies, such as pop, juice, candy and processed foods, are now available and inexpensive, and that fresh fruit and vegetables are what are less often chosen or desired as part of healthy eating.

All this contributes to that statistic of overweight America. With dialogue and counseling, his patients seem to be able to achieve a healthier lifestyle and lose weight, incorporating this blame-free perspective.

Dr. Rahimee is also motivated by the rewarding feeling he gets when he can catch a growing cancer early, evaluate a hospital patient through diagnostic tests and help that patient manage food intake. He is also inspired when working side-by-side with great staff.

In fact, in 2015 Dr. Rahimee moved to Adam Medical Center in Dearborn Heights, where he has been pleasantly surprised by the high quality of care there and at the three Beaumont hospitals where he treats patients.

“It surprised me that the nurses communicate so thoroughly. It’s amazingly helpful. They make it easier for physicians to focus on patient care, as they verbally update the status of patients. Their attitude offers ‘what can I do for you, doctor’ to make patient care effective and care efficient. It allows me to compassionately focus on patient, with accurate up-to-date details.”

He has also gleaned other perquisites such as being closer to home, which means more quality family time, and less travel time to the hospitals at which he rounds. These unanticipated changes--personally, and in quality of care, skill level, compliance and professionalism of the staff he works with in the office and at the hospitals--allow him to focus on each patient. According to Dr. Rahimee, it’s much more poignant, effective and exciting.

One thing he knows for sure…this experience has quenched his appetite.