- Cardiovascular-renal metabolic syndrome (CKM) is a newly defined disease
- It represents the overlap between kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity
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Researchers have described a new type of heart disease that threatens to affect one in three adults.
Cardiovascular-renal metabolic syndrome (CKM) represents the overlap between kidney disease, metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and obesity, and heart disease.
Technically, CKM is not a new disease, but rather a new way of thinking about how existing diseases affect each other.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), one in three adults in the United States has three or more risk factors that put them at increased risk of developing the disease.
The goal of defining CKM is to enable earlier diagnosis and treatment for people who are at high risk of dying from heart disease.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), one in three adults in the U.S. has three or more risk factors that contribute to CKM (stock image)
The main author of the report and an accompanying statement, Dr. Chiadi Ndumele, director of obesity and cardiometabolic research in the division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University, estimates that more than 90 percent of adults fall on the CKM spectrum.
This is primarily due to skyrocketing rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes among adults and children across the U.S., he said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 42 percent of adults and 20 percent of children are obese, while more than 37 million adults have diabetes.
The AHA has developed four levels to categorize the risk of CKM.
Level zero is the optimal place to stay.
These are people with no risk factors who probably eat a balanced diet, are at a healthy weight and don’t smoke.
Level one is people who could be Being overweight, especially with excess belly fat. Or they may have prediabetes.
It is recommended that these individuals aim to lose five percent of their weight to protect themselves from progressing to another stage of CKM.
In people in the second stage, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes occur, among other things. They may also have kidney disease.
Doctors may prescribe this cohort medication to control blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol.
They may also offer patients Ozempic or Wegovy to help them lose weight and control blood sugar levels.
In the third stage, people suffer from asymptomatic heart disease.
You may have high blood pressure or early heart or kidney disease and may be taking medications such as a statin.
Treatments for this category include heart and diabetes medications and tests for narrowed arteries.
Stage four is symptomatic heart disease. This would be someone with diagnosed heart disease, excess fat, type 2 diabetes, or kidney disease.
They may have already had a heart attack or stroke and developed heart failure.
People in stage four can be further divided into those with kidney failure and those without kidney failure.
The AHA’s overhaul of how it views heart disease also includes an expanded risk calculator for healthcare professionals.
The old risk calculator predicted a 10-year chance of a heart attack or stroke in people ages 40 to 75.
The updated risk calculator will include people aged 30 and over and predict a 10-year and a 30-year probability of a heart attack, stroke or heart failure.