HOUSTON, July 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) previously announced the development of a 2-year fellowship program to support the creation of cardiometabolic training programs nationwide and increase the number of expert clinicians equipped to effectively manage patients with cardiometabolic risk factors. The ASPC is pleased to announce that the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease will host the first ASPC Cardiometabolic Medicine Fellow. Dr. Yara Jelwan started her training on July 1, 2024 with Dr. Michael Blaha as program director.

Dr. Jelwan studied at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, continued her education receiving an MPH in methodology and statistics in Paris, and is currently a Post-Graduate Year 3 Internal Medicine resident at St. Lukes Hospital in St. Louis. Dr. Jelwan's notable work at St. Luke's Hospital includes enhancing Coronary Artery Calcium scoring and addressing the underutilization of SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP1 receptor agonists.

"Thank you to the ASPC for this wonderful opportunity!" Dr. Jelwan stated. "I am excited to be a part of a new tradition of cardiometabolic training within preventive cardiology."

The rate of metabolic diseases – obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus – have been steadily increasing in the United States and across the globe. In 2019, of the 37 million people in the U.S. who were estimated to have diabetes, nearly 25% of them were undiagnosed, and the total number is expected to triple by 2060.^1,2 The number of U.S. adults in 2020 with obesity and severe obesity are projected to increase from 42% to 50% and 18% to 25% respectively in 2030.³ The rate of metabolic syndrome has increased 25% from 1988 to 2012, representing a third of the U.S. population.⁴

Historically, the care of cardiometabolic diseases has been fragmented between primary care physicians and specialists such as endocrinologists, cardiologists, and less often hepatologists and nephrologists.⁵ This approach has been characterized by sparse interaction among specialists and lack of ownership of the field by any specialty or type of physician. As a result, the cardiometabolic patient is left without a "home", instead being shuffled between specialty clinics. 

"There is a recognition that we are undertreating cardiometabolic disease in our high-risk cardiovascular patients," Dr. Blaha commented. "This is an important step toward our vision of more widespread cardiometabolic medicine training in the U.S.".

The ASPC is a non-profit membership-based association dedicated to educating health care professionals and patients about the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. For more information about ASPC, please visit www.aspconline.org.

References:

1. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/diagnosed-undiagnosed-diabetes.html
    
2. Lin J, et al. Projection of the future diabetes burden in the United States through 2060. Popul Health Metr. 2018 Jun 15;16(1):9.
    
3. Ward ZJ, et al. Projected U.S. State-Level Prevalence of Adult Obesity and Severe Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2019 Dec 19;381(25):2440-2450.
    
4. https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2017/testimplementationevalxml.htm#contribAff
    
5. Saxon DR, et al. Cardiometabolic Medicine: Development of a New Subspecialty. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2020 Jul 1;105(7).

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SOURCE The American Society for Preventive Cardiology