DALLAS, TEXAS: The American Heart Association (AHA) recently released an advisory identifying a new medical condition termed the Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic syndrome or CKM that reflects the strong links between obesity, diabetes, heart, and kidney disease.
Notably, this recognition of the condition comes at an hour when more and more young Americans are being affected by multiple chronic health issues.
As per the AHA, the goal of identifying CKM is to diagnose people at high risk of dying from cardiovascular disease early on and start their treatment.
The organization stated that one in three adults in the US has three or more risk factors that contribute to heart disease, kidney disease, or metabolic disorders. Type 2 diabetes and obesity, the two main metabolic disorders considered under CKM, are rising and affecting more young people.
How does CKM affect one's health?
The Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic syndrome or CKM can negatively affect almost every major organ in the body, including the heart, brain, kidneys, and liver. However, the largest impact of the syndrome is seen on the cardiovascular system.
It especially affects the blood vessels and heart muscles as well as increases the rate of fatty buildup in the arteries, as stated by AHA in its advisory.
What are doctors saying about CKM?
Dr Chiadi E Ndumele, the director of obesity and cardiometabolic research in the division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University, as well as the lead author of the advisory and an accompanying statement, said, "Reducing the pipeline of individuals progressing to heart disease is our primary goal," while speaking with NBC News.
He added, "Right now, we’re seeing the health consequences of all these conditions interacting and leading to earlier presentations with heart disease."
Dr Ndumele believes that naming and describing CKM is "really a paradigm change."
Dr Pam R Taub, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, is in agreement with Dr Ndumele.
She opined that the development of new medications to treat conditions that are part of the syndrome, such as kidney disease, diabetes, and obesity, has resulted in decreases in cardiovascular events and given doctors new insights into the relationship among the different organs.
Moreover, Dr Taub said that when the organs are considered together, "You can detect disease early and you’re going to prevent bad cardiovascular outcomes, like heart failure, heart attacks, and stroke."
How is Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic syndrome identified?
Dr Chiadi E Ndumele and his team have devised a four-stage system for doctors to identify at-risk patients for CKM, as per NBC News.
Stage 0
The person shows no risk factors for heart disease.
Stage 1
A person deemed overweight and has a lot of abdominal fat or prediabetes. People in this stage would be advised to follow a healthy lifestyle and aim for at least 5% weight loss.
Stage 2
A person with type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, or kidney disease. Treatments may contain medications to control blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol.
Prescribed drugs may include diabetes drugs such as SGLT2 inhibitors, which protect kidney function, and GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as Ozempic or Wegovy, to help control blood sugar and lose weight.
Stage 3
People who show metabolic risk factors such as high blood pressure and early cardiovascular disease or kidney disease without having any symptoms. For patients in this stage, treatment would include heart and diabetes medications, as well as testing for narrowing of the arteries.
Stage 4
Someone with diagnosed heart disease, metabolic risk factors, excess body fat, or kidney disease. The person might already have had heart attacks or strokes or they may have developed heart failure.
At this stage, patients would typically fall into one of two categories, those without kidney failure and those with it.
How many people are affected by CKM?
According to Dr Chiadi E Ndumele's estimate, more than 90% of adults fall on the CKM spectrum, driven mainly by record levels of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 41.9% of adults and 19.7% of children in the US are obese and that more than 37 million adults have a diabetes diagnosis.
Dr Howard Weintraub, the clinical director of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at NYU Langone Heart in New York, said that the best solution for CKM is to reach out to young Americans and ensure they take up a healthier lifestyle.
As per him. CKM is "bringing obesity and waist circumference back as a focus," and noted that it "got a lot of play 15 or 20 years ago, but then it kind of went away."
"We need to keep America’s youth a healthy weight and not let their arteries turn into lead pipes by the time they are in their 30s," said Dr Weintraub.
