The American Heart Association has identified a significant association between cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity, defining a new condition: cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome.
CKM syndrome is a consequence of the high prevalence of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in adults and children, according to an Oct. 9 news release from the AHA. People who have or are at risk for cardiovascular disease may have the condition.
The AHA advises a new approach to care with patients at risk for the disorder, including screening for and addressing social factors of health, updating the risk calculator that helps healthcare providers predict a person's heart attack or stroke risk and incorporating collaborative care efforts into the treatment of all patients.
"Screening for kidney and metabolic disease will help us start protective therapies earlier to most effectively prevent heart disease and best manage existing heart disease," Chiadi Ndumele, MD, PhD, writing committee chair and associate professor of medicine and director of obesity and cardiometabolic research in the division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said in the release.