9 in 10 American adults prone to heart disease

Washington, May 9 (Prensa Latina) Nine of 10 American adults are in the early, middle or late stages of a syndrome that leads to heart disease, a new report finds, and almost 10% have the disease already. "Poor cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic health is widespread among the U.S. population," concludes a team led by Dr. Muthiah Vaduganathan of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

May 9, 2024
18:18

Researchers looked specifically at rates of what the American Heart Association has dubbed cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic (CKM) syndrome – interrelated factors that progress with time and, if left unchecked, lead to heart disease.

According to experts, CKM is divided into four stages: excess fat buildup in the body, emergence of other metabolic risk factors (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes), emergence of high-risk kidney disease or a high predicted risk of heart disease being diagnosed in the next 10 years, and finally the diagnosis of full-blown heart disease with or without kidney disease.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded that nearly 90% of U.S. adults met criteria for CKM syndrome (stage 1 or higher) and 15% met critera for advanced stages, neither of which improved between 2011 and 2020.

Not surprisingly, the severity of CKM syndrome rose with age,55.3% of people 65 or older were in an advanced stage of CKM syndrome, compared to 10.7% of those aged 45 through 64, and 2.1% of those aged 20 through 44, the study found.

The young were at risk, too. Most Americans ages 20 through 44 (81.8%) were already affected by these heart and kidney risk factors.

Race also mattered, with Black Americans 38% more likely to be burdened with CKM syndrome compared to Whites people.

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