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Integrating Care Across Cardiovascular Kidney and Metabolic Diseases

Heart Cafe at ESC 2025
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM - SESSION 6
Integrating Care Across Cardiovascular Kidney and Metabolic Diseases

Session Highlights

In this WHF Heart Café conversation, moderator Larry Sperling (Emory) hosts Andrés Rosende (PAHO/HEARTS in the Americas), Tazeen Jafar (Duke–NUS/Duke), and Naveed Sattar (University of Glasgow) to unpack integrated care across Cardio-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) disease. The panel explores the interconnectedness of cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic conditions; the rising burden from obesity and diabetes; scalable primary-care solutions like HEARTS clinical pathways; team-based and community models; and how digital health/AI, prevention policy (food environment), and climate risks can be addressed to make care more comprehensive, equitable, and effective.

Key takeaways

  • CKM is one system: Cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic diseases share pathophysiology and risks; siloed guidelines miss multimorbidity and real-world needs.
  • Epidemiology is shifting: Obesity/diabetes are accelerating CKM burden at younger ages; social determinants and ultra-processed food environments amplify risk.
  • From guidelines to pathways: HEARTS-style integrated clinical pathways (simple ≠ simplistic) help primary care deliver consistent BP, lipids, diabetes, vaccination, and CKD care.
  • Team-based, community care works: Task-sharing with nurses and community health workers, kiosks, and telehealth builds access and trust in LMICs and remote settings.
  • AI as co-pilot: Use AI decision support to personalize therapy and close gaps—always with human oversight and local adaptation.
  • Climate & infections matter: Heat stress, pollution, toxins, and infectious-disease links raise CKM risk; include vaccination and resilience planning in pathways.
  • Best buy = prevention & policy: Advocate for healthier food environments, activity-friendly cities, and early-life prevention alongside scalable primary-care protocols.

Who should watch?

Cardiologists, nephrologists, endocrinologists, GPs, nurses, pharmacists, public-health leaders, payers, digital-health teams, environmental-health experts, and community advocates building integrated CKM care, HEARTS-aligned primary care, and prevention policy.


CKM Session – FAQ

What is CKM and why integrate care?
CKM (Cardio-Kidney-Metabolic) reflects shared risks (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, inflammation). Integrated pathways manage multimorbidity better than single-disease silos.
How does HEARTS in the Americas improve outcomes?
By standardizing primary-care clinical pathways (BP, lipids, diabetes, CKD, vaccines), enabling team-based task-sharing, and simplifying protocols for scale-up and equity.
Is AI the answer for CKM care?
AI is a useful co-pilot for risk stratification and therapy choice, but success requires human intelligence, local workflows, training, and community trust.
How do climate and environment affect CKM?
Heat, pollution, flooding, and toxins increase AKI/CKD and CV risk. Build climate-resilient care (cooling, water, supply chains), vaccination, and clean-air advocacy into CKM plans.


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