The future of cardiovascular and metabolic medical practice: evidence-based winds of change

摘要

In a recent issue of the journal, we proposed the recognition of a new clinical subspecialty termed cardiometabolic medicine [ ]. This broad term usefully encompasses diabetes, cardiovascular disease and associated major modifiable risk factors, that is, excess adiposity, dysglycaemia, hypertension and dyslipidaemia. In this themed issue, we are pleased to present a series of articles written by world class authorities that explore aspects of this proposal in more detail. Common themes that unite voices calling for the new subspecialty are (1) the high – and increasing – prevalence of cardiometabolic disease and (2) the multimorbid nature of noncommunicable chronic metabolic and vascular diseases [ – ], including chronic renal impairment and nonalcoholic fatty liver diseaseonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH). In his 2020 presidential address, Robert Eckel, President of Medicine & Science at the American Diabetes Association noted that ‘the overlap of [these] metabolic disorders with cardiovascular disease is graded, strong and contributes in a major way to reversing the decades-long trend of reduced cardiovascular disease mortality’.