From the PLA President: Riding the Waves

Once again, welcome to our region. From the endless smooth coastline of California to the pristine and rocky Oregon and Washington coasts. From the best snow in the world in Utah and Idaho to the big sky country of Montana. From Nevada and the last frontier of Alaska to the idyllic dreamscape of Hawaii. From the 4,900 miles that our region covers, we welcome you.

The title of this issue elicits the image of a surfer navigating the waves with their sudden twists and turns. The surfer must maintain balance and use skill, knowledge, and experience to ride the waves without “wiping out.” And so it is with clinical lipid specialists — navigating our days, seeing patients, and attempting to keep up with the literature. We learn and interpret new findings, wrestling with conflicting opinions and discovering that what was previously thought, may no longer be valid. John F. Kennedy said, “The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.”

The LipidSpin, in my opinion, is an invaluable resource for the dissemination of practical knowledge in our lipid specialty, which continues to take on an ever-increasing pertinence in patient care. It serves as a distillation for the busy clinician who finds the “how to” very useful.

With the use of new therapies and the approval of the PCSK9 inhibitors and their outcome studies in progress, the National Lipid Association and its chapters have an opportunity to be the most important and credible voice of contemporary lipidology. The LipidSpin is integral in that process.

So, from our topographically unique region, we present this issue of the LipidSpin to hopefully help navigate our ever-changing landscape of knowledge and discovery. Each article will bring you challenging concepts, questions to be pondered, and tools to assist.

 I hope you find it worthwhile.