A newly named medical condition links increased cardiovascular and kidney disease to type 2 diabetes and obesity.
In an advisory this week, the American Heart Association identified CKM syndrome — or cardiovascular, renal and metabolic syndrome — as an emerging health threat.
One-third of US adults have three or more risk factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and metabolic disorders such as diabetes, the AHA stated in a news release.
The AHA states that CKD syndrome affects almost every major organ in the body, including the heart, brain, kidneys and liver.
Identifying CKM represents a “paradigm shift,” Dr. Chiadi E. Ndumele, lead author of the AHA advisory, told NBC News.
Currently, “we are seeing the health consequences of all these conditions interacting and leading to early presentation with heart disease,” added Ndumele, who is also an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
“Reducing the pipeline of individuals with heart disease is our ultimate goal,” he said.
Prevents CKM syndrome
It is hoped that greater awareness of CKM syndrome — and preventing, diagnosing and treating these related diseases earlier in life — will help doctors identify people at high risk of dying young from heart disease and related conditions.
CKM, or cardiovascular-renal-metabolic syndrome, is a new approach to managing multiple health conditions.Getty Images
The AHA advisory “discusses the relationship between these conditions with a particular focus on identifying people in the early stages of CKM syndrome,” Ndumele said.
“Screening for kidney and metabolic disease will help us initiate protective therapy earlier to most effectively prevent heart disease and best manage existing heart disease.”
Stage of CKM syndrome
The AHA developed a four-stage system to identify patients at risk for CKM syndrome:
Stage 0: People have no risk factors for CKM syndrome.
Stage 1: People are overweight, have an unhealthy distribution of body fat (such as excess belly fat) or are prediabetic. Lifestyle changes, aiming to reduce their body weight by at least 5% and taking medication to manage blood sugar, are recommended.
Stage 2: People have type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides or kidney disease. They should focus on lifestyle changes, weight loss and medications to manage diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and kidney function.
Doctors worry that not enough is being done early on to prevent young people from developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other related conditions.Getty Images/iStockphoto
Stage 3: People have early cardiovascular disease or kidney disease but have no symptoms. They may benefit from therapy and Stage 2 tests to measure artery health, as well as treatment to help maintain good blood flow.
Stage 4: People have cardiovascular disease or kidney disease and have had symptoms such as heart attack, stroke, heart failure or kidney failure.
Early intervention is key
“It puts obesity and waist circumference back in focus,” Dr. Howard Weintraub, a preventive cardiologist at NYU Langone Health, told NBC. “This got a lot of play 15 or 20 years ago, but then it kind of disappeared.”
In years past, if someone had a BMI close to 30, their doctor might “pat the patient on the back, tell them to stop eating fries, do more exercise and then say, ‘See you next year,'” Weintraub said.
But with newly identified CKM, doctors and their patients can get involved earlier in the disease process. “So instead of waiting until someone is advanced by the time they come to medical care, we can treat them earlier.”
The ultimate goal is to prevent people from developing serious health conditions such as heart disease or type 2 diabetes while they are young.
“We need to make sure America’s youth are at a healthy weight and don’t let their arteries turn into lead pipes when they’re in their 30s,” Weintraub added.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
