The 4 Stages of CKM Syndrome Offer Opportunities to Stop Progression, Promote Regression

The pathophysiology of cardiovascular kidney metabolic (CKM) syndrome for most individuals begins with an accumulation of excess or dysfunctional adipose tissue, according to Chiadi Ndumele, MD, PhD, MHS. The potential sequelae, results of overlapping physiologic dysfunction and compensation, unless arrested, can lead to clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD), he explained in a recent interview with Patient Care.®

Ndumele, chair of the American Heart Association writing committee for the recent statement on prevention and management of CKM syndrome, described the 4 stages that identify the progression of CKM disease and how each reflects the steady pathological creep of what begin as subclinical changes. Each stage, he emphasizes, is a window for intervention that can prevent disease progression and importantly, promote regression back to an earlier stage. He offers more detail in the short video above.

Chiadi Ndumele, MD, PhD, MHS, is associate professor of medicine and director of obesity and cardiometabolic research in the division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease, and particularly heart failure.