Introduction

Today, I am excited to share the first class in a series of lipid masterclasses with the amazing Dr. Thomas Dayspring!

Dr. Dayspring is certified in internal medicine and clinical epidemiology and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the National Lipid Association. He was previously the Educational Director of a nonprofit organization and has served as the Chief Academic Advisor for two major cardiovascular labs. 

Due to the in-depth nature of my discussions with Dr. Dayspring over several sessions, each lasting nearly six hours, it seemed logical to present these masterclasses in segmented chunks to make them easier to understand.

In our first class today, we dive into the fundamentals, exploring what lipids are and how lipids and fatty acids are classified. We cover the physiology and transportation of cholesterol and the role of apoptosis, apo-proteins, and apo-lipoproteins, unravel the differences between HDL, LDL, IDL, and VLDL, and explain how to calculate LDLs and triglycerides for assessing metabolic health. Dr. Dayspring also shares his preferences regarding lab values and the indicators that provide information to help him determine the early risk of cardiovascular disease.

We get into some detailed aspects of physical chemistry in this episode, so I highlight the main clinical points throughout our conversation to make it more understandable.

Be sure to join Dr. Dayspring and me for our next episode in the lipid masterclass series.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

• What are lipids, and why are they important?
• Dr. Dayspring explains what triglycerides are.
• How lipids get absorbed and transported throughout the body
• What lipoproteins are, and how they get classified
• How cholesterols get calculated
• The impact of triglycerides on cholesterol levels and cardiovascular health
• How high triglyceride levels can indicate early insulin resistance or increased ASCVD risk
• What is the role of HDL particles?
• How metabolic syndrome impacts cardiovascular health

Bio:

Thomas Dayspring MD is a Fellow of both the American College of Physicians and the National Lipid Association and is certified in internal medicine and clinical lipidology. After practicing in New Jersey for 37 years, in 2012, he moved to Virginia. He served as an educational director for a nonprofit cardiovascular foundation and until mid-2019 as a Chief Academic Advisor for two major CV laboratories. Since then, he has served as a virtual cardiovascular / lipidology educator. Career-wise he has given over 4000 domestic (in all 50 states) and several international lectures, including over 600 CME programs on atherothrombosis, lipids/lipoproteins (and their treatment), vascular biology, biomarker testing, and women’s cardiovascular issues. He has authored several manuscripts and lipid textbook chapters and performed several podcasts. For several years he was an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Lipidology. He was the recipient of the 2011 National Lipid Association’s Presidents Award for services to clinical lipidology and the 2023 Foundation of NLA Clinician/Educator Award. He has over 34K followers on his educational Twitter (X) feed (@Drlipid). He has Gold Heart Member status as a professional member of the American Heart Association and serves as a Social Media Ambassador for the European Atherosclerosis Society and the National Lipid Association.

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