Cardiometabolic Medicine

What is Cardiometabolic Medicine?

Cardiometabolic medicine is an integrated approach to chronic disease prevention and treatment. Recent advances in our understanding of these diseases, as well as breakthroughs in pharmacologic therapies, have enabled us to more comprehensively treat obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, lipid disorders, and certain liver and kidney conditions. Rather than treating each disease process as a separate and isolated condition, the cardiometabolic medicine perspective sees many of these conditions as interrelated and attempts to address the core underlying disease processes.

What does a cardiometabolic visit look like? And what if I don’t have all of these conditions?

Visits are like a typical doctor appointment, but will be focused on your and your physician’s areas of concern. For some patients, that will mean a focus on options for weight loss. For others, it may be testing to see why your heart disease developed early, and whether family members should be tested for certain conditions. Patients who have heart and kidney diseases may be looking for treatment options to help protect the heart and kidneys as much as possible. We will focus the visit on you and your physician’s priorities.

Is this a replacement for my endocrinologist or primary care physician?

No — we work in concert with your primary care physician, endocrinologist, cardiologist, nephrologist and others to review your history and consider treatment options that you may be interested in exploring. We do not replace any of these critical team-members.

Reference for image:

Reiter-Brennan C, Cainzos-Achirica M, Soroosh G, et al. Cardiometabolic medicine – the US perspective on a new subspecialty. Cardiovascular Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2020 Sep;9(3):70-80. DOI: 10.1097/xce.0000000000000224.

Does the AHA recommend a Mediterranean-style diet?

Yes. A Mediterranean-style diet can help you achieve the American Heart Association’s recommendations for a healthy dietary pattern that:

emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans and legumes;
includes low-fat or fat-free dairy products, fish, poultry, non-tropical vegetable oils and nuts; and
limits added sugars, sugary beverages, sodium, highly processed foods, refined carbohydrates, saturated fats, and fatty or processed meats.

This style of eating can play a big role in preventing heart disease and stroke and reducing risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. There is some evidence that a Mediterranean diet rich in virgin olive oil may help the body remove excess cholesterol from arteries and keep blood vessels open.

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Cardiometabolic Information