What is CKM syndrome? Doctors identify emerging major health threat

A newly named medical condition links the rising tide of cardiovascular and kidney disease with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

In an advisory this week, the American Heart Association identified CKM syndrome — or cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic syndrome — as an emerging health threat.

One-third of U.S. 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 noted that CKM syndrome affects almost every major organ in the body, including the heart, brain, kidneys and liver. 

Identifying CKM represents “a paradigm change,” Dr. Chiadi E. Ndumele, lead author of the AHA advisory, told NBC News.

Currently, “we’re seeing the health consequences of all these conditions interacting and leading to earlier presentations 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 progressing to heart disease is our primary goal,” he said.

Preventing CKM syndrome

It’s hoped that a greater awareness of CKM syndrome — and preventing, diagnosing and treating these related ailments earlier in life — will help doctors identify people who are at high risk of dying at a young age from heart disease and related conditions.

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

“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.”

Stages of CKM syndrome

The AHA developed a four-stage system for identifying 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 prediabetes. Lifestyle changes, aiming to reduce their body weight by at least 5% and taking medications 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.

Stage 3: People have early cardiovascular disease or kidney disease but aren’t experiencing symptoms. They may benefit from Stage 2 therapies and tests to measure artery health, plus treatments to help maintain good blood flow.

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

Early intervention is key

“It’s bringing obesity and waist circumference back as a focus,” Dr. Howard Weintraub, a preventative cardiologist at NYU Langone Health, told NBC. “This got a lot of play 15 or 20 years ago, but then it kind of went away.”

In years past, if someone had a BMI close to 30, their doctor might “pat the patient on the back, tell them to lay off the french fries, get more exercise and then say, ‘See you next year,’” Weintraub said.

But with the newly identified CKM, doctors and their patients could get more engaged sooner in the disease process. “So rather than wait till somebody is already advanced by the time they come to medical attention, we can treat them earlier.”

The ultimate goal is to prevent people from developing serious health conditions like heart disease or type 2 diabetes when they’re young.

“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,” Weintraub added.