Members and listeners and all ladies and gentlemen who care about the influence of lipids and atherosclerosis on their health, I wish you safety and wellness.

 

As we update our website, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the affairs and work directions of the current supervisors.

 

    It was my honor nearly 20 years ago to be invited by Secretary - General Lin, Hsing-Jung to join the society after returning from the UK with my Doctorate degree.  I quickly realized that this society was unlike other medical societies that I had joined. In traditional medical societies, all of the supervisors are doctors, but in our society, the supervisors are basic research scholars and dietitians, as well as doctors. Our doctors also come from various specialties, such as cardiovascular, diabetes and metabolism, stroke, obesity, etc. Since our society is not involved in the business of specialist certification, we can pay more attention to academic research issues. Over the past two decades, thanks to the efforts of successive presidents and supervisors, we have the following achievements:

l   Established guidelines for the clinical treatment of dyslipidemia: We published the 1st version of these guidelines in 2003 and updated them isocietal n 2009 as the 2nd version. In addition, we held a meeting of experts and reached a consensus regarding the diagnosis and treatment of Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) in 2014.

l   Dyslipidemia Registration: In 2009 we started Taiwanese Secondary Prevention for Patients with AtheRosCLErotic Disease (T-SPARCLE) Registry and then extended to primary prevention. So far, more than ten thousand people have participated these two registries, and we will continue to trace them. Furthermore, in 2014, we founded the familial hypercholesterolemia registry; more than 400 people have been enrolled in this registry.

l   International Communication: In 1998, our society held the first international meeting of the Asian Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Diseases (APSAVD) in Taipei. Starting in 2001, we have every year held the Taipei International Vascular Biology Symposium, to which we invite famous international experts in fields related to lipids and atherosclerosis to Taiwan to share their research experiences.

     I had the great fortune to be unanimously elected by all members as the eighth Presidsent. By reviewing previous efforts and looking forward to the future, I hope to achieve the following goals within my three years in this position:

l   Update and promote our guidelines for the clinical treatment of dyslipidemia: The guidelines were last updated more than 7 years ago. Since then, various domestic and foreign studies have indicated that intensive lowering of blood low density cholesterol (LDL-C) level offers a stronger protective effect on the cardiovascular system, particularly in high risk patients. Therefore, our society began updating the guidelines in 2015, presided over by the current Secretary General, Professor Li, Yi-Heng. During the past year or so, we have held more than 10 seminars/public hearings in the north, central, and southern districts, inviting experts from relevant societies to attend, discuss, and share. The experts in this field are responsible for jointly writing the [Taiwan High Risk Patients Dyslipidemia Treatment Guidelines]. These guidelines have now been completed and accepted by the Journal of the Formosan Medical Association for publication. Our society, together with the Health Promotion Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and six other medical societies (The Taiwan Society of Cardiology, The Taiwan Society of Cardiovascular Interventions (TSCI), the Diabetes Association of the R.O.C. (Taiwan), the Taiwanese Association of Diabetes Educators, the Taiwan Stroke Society, and the Taiwan Society of Nephrology), held a joint press conference to publish a new version of the guidelines and express to the general public to the importance of paying attention to dyslipidemia to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Starting at the end of this year, we will promote these guidelines in the north, central, south, and east districts. Furthermore, we will create the Chinese version of the guidelines and a small manual to provide reference for all levels of medical personnel, as well as common people.

l   Ask people to pay attention to familial hypercholesterolemia, increase the number of people with familial hypercholesterolemia in the registry, and establish patient groups: Familial hypercholesterolemia is an important risk factor for severe complications of atherosclerosis, such as acute myocardial infarction. It has been estimated that of every 200 people, one suffers from familial hypercholesterolemia, and these people are at increased health risks. Fortunately, familial hypercholesterolemia-related cardiovascular disease can be largely prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet; lipid lowering treatments, such as medication or regular LDL apheresis. During my tenure, I hope that the familial hypercholesterolemia registry number can reach 1000, so that we can understand the general situation of this disorder in the local landscape and subsequently develop effective diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies. In addition to establishing patient groups, providing and educating patients with proper information, and reminding their families of early screening, the society will reply to and support International Familial Hypercholesterolemia Awareness Day (FH Awareness Day) activities.

l   Strengthen international communications and cooperation: Starting from the existing basis of our society, we will aim to increase our interaction with all the world’s relevant academic societies to conduct joint research and publications, as well as to bring domestic research results to the international stage. One of the key points will be to hold large international academic conferences in Taiwan. In July of this year, with the commission assigned by the board of supervisors, I travelled to Japan to bid for the 2020 APSAVD conference. Thanks to the great efforts of two former presidents, Chen, Chao-Wen and Wu, Tsao-Chung, not only did we win the bidding, but it can also be held in advance in 2019. Such an honor requires the endorsement of high-quality international conferences, but would nevertheless be meaningless to hold a large international academic conference in Taiwan without the participation of domestic scholars and young researchers. Therefore, during my time as President, we will be committed to holding academic activities that encourage domestic scholars and young researchers to join the society and participate in the follow-up of the registry studies to expand the academic energy. Furthermore, we plan to communicate with APSAVD member states to develop a consensus regarding the current research on lipids and atherosclerosis, thus paving the way for the APSAVD conference in 2019.

   

Of the above key points, the most important is the participation and cultivation of talents. Therefore, I earnestly invite all domestic scholars and experts in relevant fields to participate in our society’s research activities and encourage young people to join us in promoting lipids and atherosclerosis research in Taiwan in order to improve people’s health, thus enabling our society to keep moving forward.