Lipid Luminations

What happens when 25 highly-accomplished experts get together to develop the guidelines that will influence clinical lipidology practice? Who makes up the expert panels that develop guidelines, how are critical issues identified, what kinds of evidence are considered, and what are the keys to a successful expert panel? Host Dr. Alan Brown sits down at the 2010 National Lipid Association Meeting with Dr. Luther Clark, professor of clinical medicine at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and global director for scientific affairs in athrosclerosis at Merck & Co. Dr. Clark speaks from his involvement in the development of guidelines for ATP I, ATP II and ATP III.

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Host Dr. Alan Brown broadcasts from the 2010 National Lipid Association meeting in Chicago. His guest is Dr. John R. Crouse, professor of medicine and public health sciences at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They focus on the results from the ACCORD lipid study.

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Dr. Ann Liebeskind, the clinical program director of Heart and Vascular Services at Affinity Health System's St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, Wisconsin, joins host Dr. Alan Brown at the National Lipid Association's 2010 meeting in Chicago, to talk about her research on lipid management and the systematic approach she's developed to help more patients achieve their lipid goals.

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Cardiologists are proud of the general reduction of cardiovascular disease and death over the past 20 years, but there is still significant concern about the epidemic of obesity and diabetes on the future of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Tom Allison, consultant in cardiovascular disease and internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic, joins host Dr. Alan Brown to discuss trends in cardiovascular disease, what has changed the behavior of our patients and what are the biggest challenges to come.

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This week's guest says that Americans eat an average of 200 calories more than they need every day. A variety of behavioral and emotional issues account for the reasons why. How can we help our patients change their habits? And what new habits will help them the most? The answer may lie in small changes. Host Dr. Alan Brown talks with Dr. John Foreyt, director of the DeBakey Heart Center's Behavioral Medicine Research Center at the Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Foreyt predicts that if we can't reverse the obesity trend, 98 percent of Americans will be obese by the year 2100.

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Dr. Carol Garber, associate professor of movement sciences at Columbia University, and Jim Whitehead, executive vice president of the American College of Sports Medicine, join host Dr. Alan Brown to discuss the ways that exercise benefits lipids, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health problems. Find out how hard and how much patients need to exercise to get benefits, and more about the science of exercise as medicine.

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HDL cholesterol is a risk factor for cardiovascular events. But does raising HDL cholesterol reduce the risk of cardiovascular events? Host Dr. Alan Brown's guest, Dr. Virgil Brown, professor emeritus at the Emory University School of Medicine, discusses HDL as a target of therapy, as a risk factor, and sub-fractions of HCL.

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What is the role of advanced lipid testing, and particle number testing in particular? How might this information change the way you treat your patients? Host Dr. Alan Brown talks with Dr. Tara Dall, medical director of Advanced Lipidology Early Detection Center for Heart Disease and Diabetes in Delafield, Wisconsin

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Simple dietary modifications can have cholesterol-lowering effects similar to the effect of starting doses of statin drugs. Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton, distinguished professor of nutrition at Penn State University, and host Dr. Alan Brown discuss dietary changes that can lower LDL cholesterol as well as lifestyle changes. Tune in to find out what we can we do as clinicians to help our patients make lifestyle changes that may stave off disease.

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Our patients are exposed to a lot of information about the dangers of trans fatty acids, and new information about monounsaturated fats. Many of us may find that patients are confused by reports they read in the popular media. What can we tell them that will make a positive difference in how they read food labels? Joining host Dr. Alan Brown is Dr. Lawrence Rudel, professor of pathology and biochemistry and head of the lipid sciences section of the pathology department at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

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