Summer 2020 LipidSpin Articles | National Lipid Association Online

JOSEPH L. LILLO, DO, CPI, FAPCR, FNLA	From the SWLA President: Working Hard to Legitimize Our Specialty It is my privilege to proudly present this edition of LipidSpin from the Southwest Chapter of the National Lipid Association (SWLA). This chapter includes the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. This edition will address some new topics not covered before, as well as reinforce current ideas considered mainstream by lipid specialists nationwide. I am also pleased to share a very important article by my good friend, Dr. Kris Vijay, concerning South... more
DANIEL E. SOFFER MD, FACP, FNLA	Editor’s Corner: New World. New Ways. Same Resolve. First off, I would like to wish you all well and offer you a warm e-embrace on behalf of the LipidSpin team. I would also like to apologize for the delay in releasing this issue featuring the SWLA; we’ve been a bit distracted by a global health crisis and our schedule got pushed back. It is hard to believe our last gathering was the Clinical Lipid Update in Denver. I distinctly remember using the “fist bump” greeting during pre-meeting courses, which then gave way to real handshakes... more
KRISHNASWAMI VIJAYARAGHAVAN, MD, FACC, FNLA DINESH KALRA, MD, FACC, FSCCT, FSCMR	Clinical Feature: The Unique South Asian Phenotype and Opportunities for Early Intervention to Prevent Diabetes and ASCVD T.S. is a 58-year-old male of South Asian origin who sought attention for complex dyslipidemia. He had migrated to the US in 1988. He has a strong family history positive for multiple members having coronary artery disease (CAD), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), diabetes (DM) and one sibling with sudden cardiac death from a myocardial infarction (MI). He has been healthy all his life with no history of hypertension (HTN), smoking or DM. He... more
EDUARDO CABALLERO, MD JOSEPH L. LILLO, DO, CPI, FAPCR, FNLA	EBM Tools for Practice: Icosapent Ethyl-Treated Hypertriglyceridemia to Reduce ASCVD Residual Risk Hypertriglyceridemia has become a point of great interest lately in the search for better management of residual risk in patients with established ASCVD. The Reduction of Cardiovascular Events with Icosapent Ethyl Intervention Trial (REDUCE-IT) as authored by Bhatt, DL et al, shows strong evidence that icosapent ethyl, in addition to statin, significantly reduced ASCVD risk in patients with hypertriglyceridemia. Lipoproteins are composed of phospholipids, apolipoproteins, and free... more
NEIL SHETH, MD, FNLA	Lipid Luminations: Elevated and Dysfunctional HDL High density lipoprotein (HDL) has long been known as a negative risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. The traditional explanation of HDL’s atheroprotective effect is termed reverse cholesterol transport. In this process, HDL removes cholesterol from the periphery and delivers it to the liver to be excreted into the bile. However there are many other proposed protective mechanisms of HDL in addition to reverse cholesterol transport. HDL has components... more
ROBERT E. LENDING, MD	Guest Editorial: Statins and Brain Fog: Confusing for Patients, Prescribers, and Me HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) were FDA-approved in 1987 and their introduction has revolutionized lipid and cardiovascular (CV) management for the past three decades.(1,2,3,4) Despite this, statins may be the most maligned pharmaceutical agents ever introduced. There are multiple potential causes for statin non-adherence and discontinuation. (5) Real and perceived side effects are cited as a critical contributor to this phenomenon. In particular, the FDA statement and package... more
NICOLE CIFFONE, MSN, ANP-C, AACC, CLS, FNLA SUSAN HALLI-DEMETER, DNP, FNP-BC, CLS, FNLA	Practical Pearls: Motivation from Failure Imagine the following scenario: Your patient presents for a routine follow-up appointment. As you review the chart you realize the labs, blood pressure, and/or weight deteriorated since the last visit. You recall sharing valuable clinical pearls with the patient and providing ample counseling, but now you are questioning if you did enough. As you enter the room the patient appears hopeful to hear good news, excited to tell you how they tried to follow the plan of care you... more
LUKE HAMILTON, MS DON P. WILSON, MD, FNLA CATHERINE J. McNEAL, MD, PhD, FNLA	Case Study: Type 1 Diabetes, Familial Hypercholesterolemia, and Elevated Lipoprotein(a) Introduction Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and type 1 diabetes (T1D) are characterized by significant morbidity and premature mortality. Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], an independent cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor, is considered a risk enhancer. Because FH, T1D and elevated levels of Lp(a) are all common, some individuals may have more than one of these conditions. In youth with T1D (Y-T1D) early identification of all risk factors is critical if we are to... more
CHIMA NWIZU, MD, FAAFP, FNLA	Specialty Corner: The Effects of Testosterone Therapy in Females on Lipid Parameters and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Testosterone is a predominantly male hormone responsible for virilization of the external male genitalia during embryonic development, promotion of somatic growth, and secondary sexual characteristics in puberty, normal sexual function and libido in both males and females, and promotion of bone formation, bone health and maintenance of bone and muscle mass in adults.(1,2) It circulates in females at approximately 13-14% of the level observed in males.(3) Testosterone levels in females... more