That’s especially true when it comes to heart disease: diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease all raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The groups recently issued the first-ever clinical guideline to prevent and treat cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, the health condition that reflects how diabetes, chronic kidney disease and obesity coexist and interact in ways that make heart disease more likely.
All of these conditions alone increase heart disease risk, but that risk is higher together.
“Obesity combined with diabetes, kidney dysfunction and elevated blood pressure creates a much higher-risk situation because each condition amplifies the effects of the others,” explained Setareh.
What Midlife Women Should Know About CKMSetareh said it’s especially important for midlife women to screen for CKM because they’re at elevated risk for conditions that drive heart disease.
It’s no secret that the body’s organs talk to each other — what’s happening with one influences the others. That’s especially true when it comes to heart disease: diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease all raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
But even though these conditions are intertwined, it can be tough to get comprehensive treatment — a major concern considering heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and that about 60% of American women are expected to develop it in the next 25 years.
But the American Heart Association (AHA) and American College of Cardiology just made it easier for women and their doctors to tackle the metabolic, kidney and cardiac issues that put them at risk.
The groups recently issued the first-ever clinical guideline to prevent and treat cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, the health condition that reflects how diabetes, chronic kidney disease and obesity coexist and interact in ways that make heart disease more likely.
Kidney, metabolic and heart issues are “biologically interconnected and often drive one another,” Dr. Sam Setareh, director of cardiology and cardiovascular performance at Beverly Hills Cardiovascular and Longevity Institute, told Flow Space.
This syndrome considers how all of these act together to put hearts in danger: excess weight can cause insulin resistance and diabetes, which can harm the blood vessels and kidneys, which in turn raises heart disease risk.
All of these conditions alone increase heart disease risk, but that risk is higher together. “Obesity combined with diabetes, kidney dysfunction and elevated blood pressure creates a much higher-risk situation because each condition amplifies the effects of the others,” explained Setareh.
It’s a call to look at the full picture. It comes at an important turning point for heart disease prevention, too; 90% of U.S. adults have at least one risk factor for CKM, which includes: high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, reduced kidney function, excess weight and high blood sugar.
“This guideline calls for earlier screening and care, focusing on prevention and coordinated action to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease before serious complications develop or a major cardiac event occurs,” Dr. Chiadi E. Ndumele, the director of obesity and cardiometabolic research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and chair of the recommendation guideline writing committee, said in a news release.
Here’s what midlife women should know about CKM.
What Midlife Women Should Know About CKM
Setareh said it’s especially important for midlife women to screen for CKM because they’re at elevated risk for conditions that drive heart disease.
“This period often includes the years when weight gain, insulin resistance, hypertension, and early kidney dysfunction become more common,” he explained before adding that declining hormones from perimenopause and menopause put women at higher risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Here are some ways to reduce your risk of CKM:
