Your Health, All Connected: Protecting Heart, Kidney, and Metabolic Wellbeing
A letter from the 缅北视频 president about CKM health
National volunteer president of the 缅北视频 and senior vice president of women鈥檚 health and executive director of the Katz Institute for Women鈥檚 Health of Northwell Health in New York City.CKM health is about looking at your overall health, not just one condition at a time. Knowing about the body’s interconnectivity helps spot health risks early to prevent heart disease, kidney failure or stroke. This is especially important when you are living with a metabolic disease like diabetes, which significantly increases the risk of chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular complications.
Metabolic health is how well your body maintains blood sugar levels and balances processes like creating, using and storing energy. It is connected to your heart health, which includes blood pressure, cholesterol and the heart’s pumping ability, and to kidney health, which is how well kidneys filter waste from the blood.
High levels of blood sugar can damage blood vessels, increasing the risk for heart and kidney disease.
With CKM health, the 缅北视频 is helping people understand how heart, kidney and metabolic health are connected. The Heart Association is also working with health care teams across the country to share information about the best way to care for patients living with multiple health conditions.
Only about 10% of U.S. adults have excellent CKM health. The rest of us have at least one heart, kidney or metabolic problem. According to the latest data, nearly 5 in 10 U.S. adults have high blood pressure, almost 6 in 10 have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, around 3 in 10 have high cholesterol and about 7 in 10 have unhealthy weight. Chronic kidney disease rates increase substantially with age, affecting 1 in 10 adults younger than age 65, and 3 in 10 adults age 65 and older.
The good news is that these connected systems can improve together. For example, when you take steps to improve blood sugar control, your blood pressure and heart disease risk may also improve, and less kidney damage occurs.
Knowing the connection between your heart, kidney and metabolic health is the first step. Next, you can take care of your overall health with regular checks of your:
When you know these numbers you know which areas need help and which can be maintained.
No matter your numbers, you don’t have to manage your CKM health alone. Managing CKM health is a team effort. A health care professional can identify your CKM health status and address health factors that are outside of a healthy range. You may receive a referral to a specialist, like a cardiologist, nephrologist (kidney doctor), dietician or exercise physiologist, who can help with specific risks and treatment. Medications that treat diabetes may also protect your heart and kidneys. Working together, a health care team can determine the best protection for your connected systems.
With overall health in mind, you and your team can address all parts of your health – from managing medication needs to supporting lifestyle changes like increasing physical activity and quitting smoking.
Learn more about CKM health by visiting heart.org/myCKMhealth.
Health care professionals interested in the latest in evidence-based CKM care can download a free CKM Health Implementation Guide at heart.org/CKMtools.
This article previously appeared on the Future of Personal Health website.