Letter from the PLA President: Paving a Healthier Path

“The problem with heart disease is that the first symptom is often fatal.”  - Michael Phelps

As an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner specializing in cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology, I have heard far too often from my patients with acute coronary syndrome, as they were in transit to the interventional lab or surgical suite, “I had no idea I had heart disease.” Hearing this phrase from patients at a critical moment in their lives, compelled me to seek the necessary knowledge with which I could make an impact on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Particularly, this meant addressing the myriad of opportunities available to us in disease prevention. I joined the NLA, became a certified Clinical Lipid Specialist, and have made the commitment to be proactive with disease prevention.  

I was excited to have the focus of this LipidSpin be Pushing Boundaries in lipidology because this specialty is still growing. For many patients the ASCVD prevention journey begins in the acute care setting. Patients are started on a statin, aspirin, a beta blocker, and/or antiplatelet, but what’s next? Do they leave the hospital with a good understanding on why they developed CAD, how these medications work, and how to prevent another cardiac event? Is this enough?
 
This edition features incredible science and care practices our NLA members frontier daily. Inside, you will find updates on aspirin therapy, the use of obesity medication, how we may be able to reach patients who are uninsured, and much, much more. This edition features a special Guest Editorial by Dr. Mutaz Al-Khnifsawi of the Iraqi Lipid Clinics Network. His incredible journey to establish lipid clinics in some of the most underserved, economically challenged, and war-torn countries is inspiring to say the least. The enthusiasm of health professionals in the lipid space enhances the medical community, and I further charge you to take advantage of every opportunity to teach, inform, communicate and inspire others to make the goals of Clinical Lipidology, cardiovascular disease prevention, vital and alive in our medical communities. 

The PLA is working on the development of visual educational materials at our fingertips. As we know, a picture is worth a thousand words. We are in the process of developing a short video of the progression and rupture of lipid plaque that can be used on our smartphones. This tool can be used at the bedside or in your office. In addition, PLA will be presenting unusual and thought-provoking lipid cases to the NLA twitter account. Feel free to make comments or ask questions. We would love to hear your thoughts.

I am honored to serve PLA as its president, and I would like to thank all the hard-working members of both SWLA and PLA for their support with this issue of LipidSpin. These individuals are truly pushing boundaries in lipidology. It is my wish that you read the issue, learn from it, teach it, and that the issue challenges you to never stop learning. After all, pushing boundaries in lipidology is aligned with our pursuit of healthcare excellence.