What is CKM syndrome? Doctors identify major emerging health threat

A newly named medical condition links the rising tide of 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 American adults have three or more risk factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and metabolic disorders such as diabetes, the AHA said in a news release.

The AHA noted that CKM 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’re seeing the health consequences of all of these conditions interacting and leading to earlier presentations of heart disease,” added Ndumele, who is also an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

“Our main goal is to reduce the number of people who progress to heart disease,” he said.

Prevention of CKM syndrome

It is hoped that increased awareness of CKM syndrome (and the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these related conditions earlier in life) will help doctors identify people who are at high risk of dying from an early age from heart disease and related conditions.

CKM, or cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, is a new approach to managing a variety of health conditions.Getty Images

The AHA advisory “addresses the connections between these conditions with a particular focus on identifying people in the early stages of CKM syndrome,” Ndumele said.

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“Detection of kidney and metabolic diseases will help us initiate protective therapies earlier to more effectively prevent heart disease and better control existing heart disease.”

Stages 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 have prediabetes. Lifestyle changes are recommended, aiming to reduce body weight by at least 5% and taking medications to control blood sugar.

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 control diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and kidney function.

Doctors worry that not enough is being done early to prevent younger people from developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other related conditions.Doctors worry that not enough is being done early to prevent younger people from developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other related conditions. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Stage 3: People have early cardiovascular or kidney disease but do not experience symptoms. They may benefit from Stage 2 therapies and tests to measure the health of the arteries, as well as treatments to help maintain good blood flow.

Stage 4: People have cardiovascular or kidney disease and have experienced symptoms such as a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or kidney failure.

Early intervention is key

“It’s coming back to focus on obesity and waist circumference,” Dr. Howard Weintraub, a preventive cardiologist at NYU Langone Health, told NBC. “This had a lot of buzz 15 or 20 years ago, but then it disappeared.”

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In years past, if someone had a BMI close to 30, their doctor could “pat the patient on the back, tell them to stop eating French fries, exercise more, and then say, ‘See you next year.'” Weintraub said. .

But with the newly identified CKM, doctors and their patients could become more and more quickly involved in the disease process. “So instead of waiting until someone is already advanced when they receive medical care, we can treat them sooner.”

The ultimate goal is to prevent people from developing serious health problems, such as heart disease or type 2 diabetes, when they are young.

“We need to keep young Americans at a healthy weight and not let their arteries turn into lead pipes by the time they reach age 30,” Weintraub added.

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Source: vtt.edu.vn

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