Fall 2015 LipidSpin Articles | National Lipid Association Online

CARL E. ORRINGER, MD, FACC, FNLA	From the NLA President: Planning for the Future As your new President, I first want to thank you for the opportunity to serve the National Lipid Association (NLA), and you, its members, for the 2015–2016 year. My colleague and good friend, Dr. Terry Jacobson, has been a tireless worker and advocate for the NLA in his role as president for the 2014–2015 year, and has been a tremendous role model for me. I promise to carry on Dr. Jacobson’s focus and determination to advance the NLA’s role as a world class organization that proudly focuses... more
KAYE-EILEEN WILLARD, MD, FNLA	From the MWLA President: Thinking Ahead in a New Way The Midwest Chapter was proud to be the host of the 2015 Scientific Sessions in Chicago. The meeting was well attended and very favorably reviewed, with an excellent faculty presenting talks both regarding novel research in clinical lipidology as well as practical applications of lipid management. Additionally, Drs. Carl Orringer and Terry Jacobson presented talks and discussions on the NLA Recommendations for Patient-Centered Management of Dyslipidemia - Part 1, as well as the Part 2... more
JAMES A. UNDERBERG, MD, MS, FACPM, FACP, FNLA ROBERT A. WILD, MD, MPH, PhD, FNLA	Letter From the LipidSpin Editors: I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together Dr. Underberg: As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s, I remember many nights spent watching “The Carol Burnett Show.” Her song at the end of each show has always reminded me to take pleasure in things that have come and gone. I can think of no better way to title my last editors corner for LipidSpin. Quite some time ago Bob Wild and I were asked to take over the editorial control of the LipidSpin from its original stewards. Its origins as... more
LYNN G. HOKE, MSN, NP DANIEL A. DUPREZ, MD, PhD, FNLA	Clinical Feature: Primary Prevention as a Strategy in Identifying the High-Risk Patient in the Absence of Traditional Risk Factors Primary Prevention Often Comes too Late Primary prevention is concentrated on risk-factor evaluation and threshold levels of cholesterol and blood pressure values.¹ By focusing treatment exclusively on risk factors and these threshold levels, guidelines often disregard individuals with levels below these thresholds who still are at risk for an atherosclerotic cardiovascular event in which non-traditional or unknown cardiovascular risk contributors are... more
ALLAN D. SNIDERMAN, MD, FRCP (C), FRSC KAYE-EILEEN WILLARD, MD, FNLA	Guest Editorial: The Causal Model of Primary Prevention: Prevent Events by Preventing Disease “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” — Benjamin Franklin Introduction Truisms carry no scientific weight, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be true. For decades now, primary prevention has been based on the cardiovascular risk model. This approach, which appears simply to be common sense and therefore inarguable, was developed because clinical events are what injure or kill us and clinical events are, therefore,... more
SEAN D. STEWART, PharmD, BCACP, CLS, FNLA	EBM Tools for Practice: Is There an App for That? Evidence-Based Practices in Mobile Health Applications A healthy lifestyle — consisting of no smoking, healthy eating, and physical activity — and adherence to prescribed risk-reducing medication are paramount to primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Lifestyle interventions are included as first-line therapy in all major cholesterol management guidelines.^1,2,3 Unfortunately, less than half of all adults meet public health guidelines for physical activity,⁴ nearly 90 percent do not meet... more
KAVITA S. SHARMA, MD MARTHA GULATI, MD, MS, FACC, FAHA	Lipid Luminations: Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women with Statins and Gender-Specific Management of Dyslipidemia There has been long-standing debate over the efficacy of statins in women for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), largely stemming from the under-enrollment of women in clinical trials.1 Here we summarize the data on use of statins in primary prevention of CVD in women and gender-specific management. Prevention Trials A 2004 meta-analysis of all primary prevention trials that included women was unable to demonstrate any beneficial effect of... more
ALEJANDRO DE LA TORRE, MD DON P. WILSON, MD, FNLA	Specialty Corner: Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Youth with Metabolic Syndrome Case Presentation A 15-year-old male was referred for dyslipidemia. Initial and follow-up laboratory findings are shown below. Renal and thyroid function were normal. No etiology was found for his elevated liver function tests (LFTs); liver ultrasound demonstrated only fatty infiltration. Extensive acanthosis nigricans (AN) of the neck and axillary was noted. His body mass index (BMI) was > 99 percent and his blood pressure (BP) was elevated (systolic blood... more
SHOEB J. SITAFALWALLA, MD	Practical Pearls: A Clinician’s Foray into Population Health Management In 2007 I was a graduate fresh from medical school with a set of preconceived notions about what my role as a physician would be. I imagined a clinical practice busy with office visits, in-patient consultations, testing, billing, paperwork, and a general schedule similar to that of my mentors at the time. I had no idea that, during the short six years of my residency and fellowship, the world of healthcare in the U.S. was about to completely change. Suddenly, I noticed a whirlwind around me... more
PRABHJOT S. NIJJAR, MD DANIEL A. DUPREZ, MD, PhD, FNLA	Case Study: Primary Prevention in the High-Risk Individual without Traditional Risk Factors Case: The patient is a 53-year-old Caucasian male who comes to the cardiovascular prevention clinic with a request: “I am five years from the age at which my father died from a heart attack and I want to know what my risk is for a similar heart attack. I am not ready yet to take a statin, because it increases the risk for diabetes.” The patient has no complaints and no traditional coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors, such as diabetes, hypertension, or... more
ALAN S. BROWN, MD, FACC, FAHA, FNLA	Chapter Update: Lipoprotein Apheresis: Availability in the Midwest Region and Patient Selection Lipoprotein apheresis is a technique that was first described in 1975. It involves the removal of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] particles from whole blood or plasma. This technique is similar to other apheresis techniques in that the blood is run through a filtering device that uses adsorption, filtration, or precipitation to remove LDL and Lp(a) particles from plasma. Traditionally, the treatment is given approximately every one to two weeks, and the frequency is... more
KEVIN C. MAKI, PhD, CLS, FNLA	Member Spotlight: Kevin C. Maki, PhD, CLS, FNLA Dr. Kevin Maki was interested in studying heart disease and diabetes from an early age. Seeing his father and father’s siblings suffer from cardiovascular disease influenced him to begin researching the causes of heart disease while he was still in high school. He quickly became convinced that it was preventable. This was supported during Dr. Maki’s college years when the results from the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial (LRC- CPPT) were published and confirmed that... more
ANNE C. GOLDBERG, MD, FNLA	Foundation Update The Foundation of the National Lipid Association is proud to announce that the 2015 Scientific Sessions this past June in Chicago was an enormous success. The Foundation event, “Lipidpalooza,” was held at the House of Blues and featured the Foundation’s own Dr. Alan Brown and his band “This End Up.” The turnout was great, and everyone had a wonderful time. The Foundation sponsored a special abstract award at the Scientific Sessions in honor of Donald B. Hunninghake, MD, a pioneer in... more