Summer 2023 LipidSpin Articles | National Lipid Association Online

Kevin C. Maki, PhD, CLS, FNLA	Letter from the NLA President: A Productive Few Months Greetings, NLA members, I hope all is well. The NLA has had a productive few months! Notable developments include the new, terrific edition of LipidSpin landing in your mailbox, the Pentathlon Challenge coming to a close, and the Annual Scientific Sessions in early June. Organized by my former home chapter (Midwest Lipid Association) and its President, Noreen Nazir, MD, this edition of LipidSpin focuses on NLA’s Impact on the Health Community. As Lipid... more
Kaye-Eileen Willard, MD, FNLA	Editor's Corner Looking Back and Thinking Forward “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change, that lives within the means available, and works cooperatively against common threats”. - Charles Erasmus Darwin It is always my pleasure to bring the Editor’s Corner... more
Noreen Nazir, MD	Letter from the MWLA President: NLA is for All! In this LipidSpin edition of the “NLA Impact on the Health Community”, we highlight how the NLA contributes to the understanding of incredibility impactful issues in medicine. The NLA has contributed to many aspects of clinical lipid medicine with scientific statements, guidelines, and the Journal of Clinical Lipidology. The NLA continues to be actively involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine. The Take Health to Heart Initiative, highlighted in... more
Kamal Shemisa, MD Marlys Koschinsky, PhD, FNLA	Clinical Feature: The ABCs of Lipoprotein(a) What is Lp(a) and Why Is It Important? In recent years, lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] has been recognized as a prevalent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It is estimated that ~20% of the global population have elevated Lp(a) levels (greater than 50 mg/dL or 100 nmol/L). Lp(a) risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) is continuous, with risk evident as low as 30 mg/dL or 75 nmol/L in all ethnic groups studied to date.^1,2Additionally,... more
Ann M. Liebeskind, MD, FNLA* Millard D. Collins, MD	Guest Editorial: To Stop the Rise in Cardiovascular Deaths, We Must Take Action outside the Clinic Introduction As healthcare professionals, we devote our careers to service. We hope to make a lasting impact for each of our patients. Our advancements in treating and preventing cardiovascular disease over the past few decades have made a clear impact, one patient at a time. As a nation, between 1981 and 2010, we were able to achieve a consistent long-term decline in cardiovascular deaths.1 Astoundingly, we are now seeing that the declining trend in cardiovascular... more
James Trippi, MD, FNLA	EBM Tools for Practice: The Place of the Lipid Specialist in the Medical Community A medical specialist is a provider/clinician with expertise beyond the generalist. The National Lipid Association (NLA) partners with the American Board of Clinical Lipidology (ABCL) to recognize those who have additional experience and knowledge in lipidology. The ABCL offers the only certification of its kind to licensed physicians and other health care professionals in the United States and Canada. Physicians are designated as Diplomates of the ABCL, and other professionals are designated... more
Miguel J. Mejia Morales, MD Luke J. Laffin, MD	Lipid Luminations: Dietary Supplements or Statins for LDL-C Lowering Introduction More than half of adults in the United States report taking dietary supplements.¹ For example, some choose supplements in place of statins in hopes of lowering low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and consequently the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).¹ Indeed Americans currently spend almost 50 billion US dollars annually on supplements for a spectrum of clinical disease states, and this amount is... more
Morgan Lentz, BS Amy L. Peterson, MD, MS, FNLA	Specialty Corner: Why is this Small Adult in My Office? How to Identify, Treat, and Advocate for Children with Familial Hypercholesterolemia Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) is an autosomal co-dominant genetic disorder, affecting roughly 1 in 220 people; characterized by lifelong elevated levels of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) and thus predisposing to development of premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).^1-3 HeFH is the most common life-threatening inherited metabolic condition in humans. Data indicates that a child with FH is born every minute of every day! Worldwide, data also indicates... more
Alan Brown, MD, FACC, MNLA Kathleen Wyne, MD, PhD, FACE, FNLA Daniel Duprez, MD, PhD, FAHA, FACC, FESC, FASH, FNLA, FASPC	Practical Pearls: Impact and Inclusivity - How the NLA Does It History We recently celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the NLA in 2022. It seems appropriate, when considering the impact of the NLA on the healthcare community, to reflect upon the environment in which the NLA was conceived, fostered, and evolved. In 1987 we started a lipid clinic in our cardiology practice, to call awareness to, and teach the nuances of lipid science relevant to cardiovascular disease prevention. By 1996, almost 10 years... more
Maroun Chedid, MD Kevin Buda, DO	Case Study: A Patient with Familial Hypercholesterolemia and Statin-Associated Muscle Effects: Pharmacotherapy and Lifestyle Introduction Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is an umbrella term for atherosclerotic conditions that affect the cardiovascular system, including ischemic heart disease, peripheral artery disease, and ischemic stroke. The public health impact of ASCVD is hard to overstate, it is currently the number one cause of death in both men and women in the United States.¹ Decades of research have shown that low-density lipoprotein... more
Nataliya Pyslar, MD, FACC, FNLA	MWLA Chapter Update: Our Small Steps towards Big Goals The Midwest Lipid Association (MWLA) would like to congratulate and express deep appreciation to all authors and co-editors, Drs. Willard and Braun, who are MWLA Board members, for the enlightening Summer Edition of LipidSpin with emphasis on “NLA impact on the Health Community”. We thank all MWLA Chapter members for their continued efforts to improve patient care across different practice settings while involving providers of different backgrounds, their contributions to research in... more
	Member Spotlight: LSP Recipient Chad Morreale, DO Cardiovascular Disease Fellow Division of Cardiology Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Chicago, IL Dr. Chad Morreale is currently at General Cardiology Fellow at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. As a Chicagoland native, Dr Morreale attended Purdue University for his undergraduate studies in Chemistry and Midwestern... more
	Summer WordSpin To download the Summer WordSpin, click here! Guidelines for the crossword: 1. Answers to most questions can be found in this edition. 2. There are no spaces or dashes between multiple word answers. 3. No words are used twice.