The American Heart Association says that CKM syndrome is a recently defined medical condition that involves heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and obesity.
The American Heart Association (AHA) is sounding the alarm about a common but relatively unknown cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome that plagues about 90 percent of adults.
"These systems are connected and function together," the AHA said. "When one system is functioning poorly, it can make the others worse. This creates a cycle that puts your health at serious risk for CKM syndrome."
"When these risk factors occur together, they increase the likelihood of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure far more than any single factor would alone," the AHA said. "The encouraging news is that for most people, CKM syndrome can be reversed through healthier eating habits, regular physical activity, and proper medical care."
A new AHA survey found that most U.S. adults are unaware or unfamiliar with CKM.
Only 12 percent had heard of CKM health or CKM syndrome, while 79 percent agreed it is important they understand more about CKM health, and 72 percent said they are interested in learning more about it.
"It is reassuring that once the CKM connection was defined nearly three-quarters of those responding understood that it was important and wanted to learn more," said American Heart Association chief medical officer for prevention Eduardo Sanchez. "We want people to know that it's really common to have heart, kidney, and metabolic risk factors at the same time."
Although CKM health includes the heart, kidneys, and the metabolic system functioning together, 68 percent of survey participants incorrectly believe it's best to manage individual conditions one at a time or weren't sure of the best way to manage them while 42 percent believed that a healthy heart would not likely be damaged by other organ systems or weren't sure.
"These results reveal the need to emphasize those connections and help patients understand the importance of collaborative care," Sanchez added. "CKM health is about your overall health. It's a full circle. You can take care of your overall health with regular checks of your blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, blood sugar and kidney function."