Spring 2015 LipidSpin Articles | National Lipid Association Online

TERRY A. JACOBSON, MD, FACP, FAHA, FNLA	From the NLA President: Planning For the Future After a successful 2014, the National Lipid Association is poised for an even better 2015. We are consistently seeking ways to improve our educational programs and professional development opportunities. We want to continue to be the voice for Clinical Lipidology. One of the ways we do this is by conducting a biennial Strategic Planning Meeting where the NLA Leadership meets to discuss the NLA’s vision for the future and steps required to successfully get there. This... more
JOYCE L. ROSS, MSN, CRNP, FPCNA, FNLA	From the NELA President: Let the Recommendations Roll I am greatly honored and humbled to hold the office of President of the Northeast Lipid Association (NELA). I appreciate the endorsement of this multidisciplinary organization, one in which a nurse practitioner has the opportunity to rise to the level of president. I have been a board member since the inception of this NLA chapter and have had the opportunity to see it grow not only in number but also in professionalism. It is in this spirit of collegiality that NELA moves forward... more
DEAN G. KARALIS, MD, FACC, FNLA DENISE AUBERSON, MD SYED YASEEN NAQVI, MD	Clinical Feature: Gender Differences in the Diagnosis and Treatment of the Metabolic Syndrome The metabolic syndrome is a clustering of interrelated risk factors for cardiovascular (CV) disease and type 2 diabetes. Although various definitions for the metabolic syndrome exist, several national and international health organizations — including the American Heart Association (AHA); the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI); and the International Diabetes Federation (IBF) — have proposed a harmonized definition for the metabolic syndrome.¹ By this definition, the... more
SHARAYNE MARK, MD EMIL M. DEGOMA, MD, FAHA, FACC, FNLA	Guest Editorial: Underdiagnosed, Undertreated, and Understudied: An Epidemic of Cardiovascular Risk in Women Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of women,¹ accounting for more than 200,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.² Cardiovascular disease is not simply a disease of older women. Heart attacks afflict one in 90 women ages 45 to 54 years old, exceeding the one in 240 diagnosed with breast cancer.^3,4 Despite these sobering statistics, the burden of cardiovascular disease in women remains vastly underappreciated. In a survey of 2,300 women in the U.S.,... more
SPENCER KROLL, MD, PhD, FNLA	EBM Tools for Practice: Gender Differences in Clinical Trials The disparity in treatment effects between men and women has long been established. In some cases, these differences are quite large. While researchers once relied on the assumption that treatment effects in women would be similar to those in men, the historical lack of inclusion of women in clinical trials has highlighted treatment differences as clinical trial information is applied across gender. Today, the proportion of treatments to which men and women respond differently remains... more
MONIQUE S. TANNA, MD RODA PLAKOGIANNIS, PharmD, BCPS, CLS, FNLA	Lipid Luminations: The Impact of Hormonal Imbalance on Cardiovascular Health in Men: The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown Cardiovascular disease affects one in three adult males and accounts for 25 percent of their mortality, making it the leading cause of death for men in the U.S.^1,2 Clinical androgen deficiency, characterized by low testosterone levels with manifest symptoms, affects a large number of middle-aged and older men and can significantly impact not only quality of life but also several cardiovascular risk factors and mortality. The Massachusetts Male Aging Study estimated the prevalence... more
SALEEM NAINA, PharmD, BCPS, CGP	Specialty Corner: Gender Differences and Risk Factors in Coronary Heart Disease Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death of men and women in the world but in younger age groups, the CHD-related death rate is strikingly higher in men compared to women.¹ Emerging evidence suggests that a disparity exists in regards to cardiovascular risks and outcomes among the sexes. The lifetime risk of developing CHD by age 40 is 50 percent for men and 33 percent for women.² In general, both CHD incidence and mortality in women lag by almost a... more
SAMUEL S. GIDDING, MD	Practical Pearls: Should Lipid Recommendations for Children be Gender Specific? It is well known that women are not protected from cardiovascular events but experience event rates at older ages equivalent to men after a 10-year lag time. The Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PDAY) study showed similar findings regarding atherosclerosis, with 25- to 34-year-old women having much less atherosclerosis than similarly aged men and only slightly more atherosclerosis than 15- to 24-year-old adolescents/men.¹ This naturally raises the question... more
KAREN E. ASPRY, MD, MS, ABCL, FACC	Case Study: Turner Syndrome: An Overlooked Gender-Specific Cardiovascular Risk Factor Introduction Symptomatic coronary atherosclerosis is rare in women under age 40, even when conventional risk factors are present. This “athero-protection” has been attributed to the female “hormonal advantage” during premenopausal years. However, it has been speculated that other, non-hormonal X-linked factors and/or absence of Y-linked factors also contribute to gender differences in atherosclerotic risk. Whatever its causes, the case presented below confirms that... more
DANIEL SOFFER, MD, FNLA	Chapter Update: Philadelphia Lipid and Atherosclerosis Club and More “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin With so many topics in the medical and lay news specifically for us, it’s a great time to be a clinical lipidologist! People are talking about the expanded and nuanced role of statins, IMPROVE-IT hit the press, and you can read about PCSK9 inhibitors in the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Genetic studies regarding lipid and lipoprotein physiology have... more
MERLE MYERSON, MD, EdD, FACC, FNLA	Member Spotlight: Merle Myerson, MD, EdD, FACC, FNLA Merle Myerson, MD, is a woman of many talents and a wearer of many hats. Her dedication to her work is more of a passion than a career, and according to her, it is her “vocation and avocation.” As founder and director of the Mount Sinai Roosevelt and St. Luke’s Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program & Lipid Clinic, Pre-Exercise Heart Screening Program, and Cardiology Section in the Institute for Advanced Medicine HIV Clinic, as well as an attending cardiologist, Dr. Myerson... more
FOUNDATION OF NLA ANNUAL REPORT	Foundation of the NLA 2014 Annual Report The Foundation of the National Lipid Association (FNLA) supports patient and clinician educational, research, and community outreach activities that enhance and support the initiatives of the NLA in its efforts to reduce cardiovascular events and deaths related to abnormalities of cholesterol metabolism. To read the FNLA's 2014 Annual Report in PDF format, click here. ... more