Majority of American adults have CKM syndrome, at risk for heart disease

Editor's Note

Nine out of 10 American adults have Cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic syndrome (CKM)—interrelated factors that progress to heart disease—and almost 10% already have heart disease, according to a report published in JAMA by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. HealthDay news reported on the findings May 8.

According to the report, researchers tracked US federal health survey data for 2011 through 2020 and found that only 10.6% of US adults aged 20 years or older did not have some level of CKM syndrome. About 26% were in stage 1 CKM syndrome, meaning they were gaining dangerous levels of body fat. Nearly half (49%) of adults were in stage 2, indicating the emergency of other metabolic risk factors such as high blood pressure or cholesterol, and and 5.4% were stage 3, indicating the emergence of high-risk kidney disease and/or a high predicted risk of a heart disease diagnosis within 10 years. Stage 4—heart disease and in some cases, failed kidneys—was observed in 9.2% of the surveyed population. CKM syndrome was generally more severe in older patients, and blacks were 38% more likely to have the condition than whites.

"Almost 90% of US adults met criteria for CKM syndrome (stage 1 or higher) and 15% met criteria for advanced stages, neither of which improved between 2011 and 2020," the researchers wrote.