It's Time to Talk About Kidney Disease as a Key Component of Cardiometabolic Health

By Susan Devaraj PhD, RD

This edition covers:

• Why kidney disease should be treated as a core cardiometabolic condition
• How lifestyle support that improves blood pressure, glycemic control, and weight can meaningfully reduce kidney disease risk.
• The role of scalable, between-visit care programs in addressing risks and closing equity gaps in kidney disease prevention and management

Kidneys are pretty cool if you think about them. We’re born with two, yet we only need one to survive. Meaning if one kidney gets damaged, we have a spare; or if someone’s kidneys aren’t working, you can donate one of yours (provided you start with two well-functioning kidneys). But there’s a lot more to kidneys than most people realize; they’re one (or two) of the most complex organs in our bodies, and national estimates report roughly 37 million US adults are living with chronic kidney disease (CKD)—but 90% don’t know it.

You might be wondering, why is a diabetes, weight and heart health provider like Omada talking about kidney disease?

Because kidney, cardiovascular and metabolic health are deeply interconnected. The American Heart Association’s Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) Health Initiative explicitly frames heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and obesity as part of a shared syndrome requiring coordinated care.