AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 AbstractNov 9, 2026, 01:54 GMT

Four patterns of stage 2 heart-kidney-metabolic syndrome in US adults

Relative death rates were highest in the high-blood-sugar and kidney-risk group, with a hazard ratio of 2.59 versus adults at stages zero or one.

Paper by Laiang Yao, Kun Yuan, Yihang Fan, +8Wenjun Fan · University of California, Irvine

Kidney cutaways beside groups of people contrast a large dark blue-green kidney with dense blood sugar shapes and a smaller gray kidney with sparse shapes.

Our read

Populations

Studied:: Cohort study of 8,761 US adults with stage 2 cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome
What changed:: Adults with stage 2 heart-kidney-metabolic syndrome fell into four distinct risk patterns
The catch:: Deaths prevented by tailoring care to these risk patterns were not measured

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper

Among 8,761 US adults with stage 2 cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, an observational study identified four distinct risk patterns. The syndrome links heart, kidney and metabolic risk factors. Researchers analyzed national survey data from 1999 through 2018. They grouped participants using nine measures covering body size, blood pressure, blood sugar, blood fats and kidney function.

The group characterized by high blood sugar and kidney risk had the highest death risks over a median follow-up of 10 years. Compared with adults at stages 0 or 1, its hazard ratios—measures comparing death rates—were 2.59 for death from any cause and 4.49 for cardiovascular death. This group's prevalence rose from 6.0% to 12.1% between 1999 and 2018. It was more common among non-Hispanic Black adults and people with lower income or education levels.

Why it matters

Preventing cardiovascular disease matters for health in later life. The authors highlighted the high-blood-sugar and kidney-risk group as a priority for targeted prevention.

Caveats

The mortality comparisons did not test whether targeting these risk patterns would reduce deaths. The findings were reported in a conference abstract, which does not specify which other health or social differences the mortality models accounted for.