Spring 2021 LipidSpin Articles | National Lipid Association Online

JOSEPH J. SASEEN, PHARMD, CLS, FNLA	From the NLA President: Our Hopes for a Bountiful Spring and Beyond To my fellow National Lipid Association members, I am happy to welcome you to the first LipidSpin edition of 2021. Management of Residual Risk remains a pertinent topic in the field of Clinical Lipidology, and I feel our colleagues within the Pacific and Midwest chapters have done and excellent job handling the topic within these pages. In other NLA-related matters, I am happy to say that after a year of trying to deal with such a devastating pandemic, the science is beginning to... more
CAROL KIRKPATRICK, PhD, MPH, RDN, CLS, FNLA	From the PLA President: Making Better Use of Time in a Virtual Space It was about this time last year that our corner of the world was beginning to grasp the stark reality of a novel virus which had made its way around the world with devastating results. In some ways, it barely feels like a moment has passed since then – in many others, the personal and professional spaces in which we exist have been altered forever. The Pacific Lipid Association – in conjunction with our friends at the Midwest Lipid Association – were very much looking forward to... more
MARLYS L. KOSCHINSKY, PhD, FAHA, FCAHS, OOnt, FNLA	From the MWLA President: Embracing Change and Identifying Opportunities “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein To say that the past year has posed significant challenges to individuals and organizations around the world is clearly an understatement. The National Lipid Association’s handling of the pandemic really speaks to this in large measure. The ability of the NLA to pivot in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in a rapid and effective way continues to impress me. Fall 2020 saw the programming... more
KAYE-EILEEN WILLARD, MD, FNLA	Editor's Corner: The Challenge of the Climb “Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, everascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.” – Winston Churchill Many times in the last chaotic year we have felt stressed to the maximum. Yet we have had to deliver quality clinical care during a time of... more
IVA MINGA, MD VISHNU PRIYA PULIPATI, MD DAVID DAVIDSON, MD, FNLA	Clinical Feature: Non-Lipid Lowering Therapies Impacting Cardiovascular Disease Risk Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death and disability globally, with the highest burden continuing to have dominant impact in the developing world.(1) Lipids play a major role in the development of atherosclerosis, but contemporary models demonstrate they are not the sole determinant of disease. Other factors including inflammatory processes and creation of a prothrombotic environment in the vascular tree, suggest that a multi-faceted understanding of pathophysiology should be... more
ALLISON ZIMMERMAN, MD NUSRAT JAHAN, MBBS, MPH DINESH K. KALRA, MD, FACC, FSCCT, FSCMR, FNLA	EBM Tools for Practice: Machine Learning to Detect Cardiovascular Complications of COVID-19 Since its emergence, the highly virulent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected over 50 million people worldwide, and its cardiovascular (CV) manifestations have become an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Patients with pre-existing diseases, particularly diabetes and obesity, are more likely to experience severe manifestation of the infection.(1-3) The prevalence of CV complications is also higher in patients with immunosuppression, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease... more
VISHNU PRIYA PULIPATI, MD MARLYS L. KOSCHINSKY, PhD, FAHA, FCAHS, FNLA, OOnt	Lipid Luminations: The Use of Colchicine for Secondary Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: What’s Old is New Again Atherosclerosis occurs due to a complex interaction between dyslipidemia and proinflammatory molecules.(1) It is the key culprit for globally prevalent cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Vascular inflammation may lead to atherosclerotic plaque rupture, thrombus formation, and subsequent occlusion, causing ischemia and infarction.(2) Residual CVD risk in statin-treated adults has prompted the examination of other risk factors, including inflammation.(3) High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP... more
ANN LIEBESKIND, MD, FAAP, FNLA	Practical Pearls: Telemedicine and the Patient Experience Telemedicine is Here to Stay Telemedicine is a valuable tool for patient care, but one that has been underused and underdeveloped for many years. When COVID-19 interrupted daily life as we knew it, telemedicine abruptly entered the mainstream of healthcare. It is estimated that provider networks are performing between 50 to 175 times the level of telemedicine that they were pre-COVID. The telehealth industry is here to stay, so understanding how to best incorporate... more
DIANE OSBORN, ANP, CLS KHOA NGUYEN, MD BRUCE A. WARDEN, PHARMD, BCPS-AQ Cardiology, CLS, FNLA, FASPC	Case Study: Role of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors in Managing Residual Cardiovascular Risk The following case involves a 58-yearold gentleman with a history of complex cardiovascular disease and several cardiometabolic risk factors as listed below. Pertinent PMHx: *1. Premature and progressive coronary artery disease (CAD)* with anterior myocardial infarction (MI) at age 45 requiring four vessel coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and stent to the left circumflex artery at age 51 2. *... more*
KAVITA H. PODDAR, PHD, RDN, CD, CLS NOREEN T. NAZIR MD, FACC	Specialty Corner: Clinician Strategies for Facilitating Lifestyle Changes During COVID-19 and Beyond Despite substantial improvements in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) outcomes in recent decades, ASCVD remains the leading cause of death worldwide.(1,2) Continued prevalence of ASCVD is attributable to behaviors that impact control of known risk factors such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, pre-diabetes, diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. (4) Conversely, behaviors that lower ASCVD risk factors such as abstinence from smoking, being physically active, maintaining ideal... more
KEVIN G. BUDA, DO DIPIKA J. GOPAL, MD	Guest Editorial: Bempedoic Acid Therapy for Patients with Statin Intolerance Hyperlipidemia is a significant causal factor in the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in developed countries.(1) The burden of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) has decreased over the past several decades, with approximately half the decline attributable to medical therapy (2) directly correlating with absolute LDL-C reduction.(3) This improvement has been primarily attributed to the increased utilization of statins, which... more
CAROL KIRKPATRICK, PhD, MPH, RDN, CLS, FNLA	PLA Chapter Update: Education, Renovation The members of the Pacific chapter of the National Lipid Association were thrilled to share in the sponsorship duties for this edition of LipidSpin with our Midwest colleagues. Through this in-depth collaborative effort, we have effectively shared our relevant experiences with the “Management of Residual Risk.” The members of our Chapter Board are truly grateful to all of the contributors who wrote articles to share their expertise and make this an informative and valuable issue of the Lipid... more
MARLYS L. KOSCHINSKY, PhD, FAHA, FCAHS, OOnt, FNLA	MWLA Chapter Update: Growing Despite the Odds It has been challenging to start my term as Midwest Lipid Association President during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our first MWLA Board meeting was not held until the Fall of 2020. However, despite the circumstances in which we find ourselves, I am delighted to report that the MWLA has been moving forward on our agenda and we have been busy! The plan for my term was to focus on the implementation phase of a robust Strategic Plan for the MWLA that was initiated and developed by the Board... more