Cardiometabolic

Cardiometabolic is an adjective describing the interconnected metabolic and cardiovascular aspects of health, risk, and disease. It is commonly used in terms such as cardiometabolic health, cardiometabolic risk, and cardiometabolic disease. The concept reflects links between metabolic disturbances and cardiovascular conditions rather than identifying one specific disease or biological process .^1,2

Cardiometabolic risk factors are characteristics associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. They can include abnormalities involving blood glucose regulation, blood pressure, blood lipids, and adipose tissue. These factors often occur together and can be connected through processes such as insulin resistance, altered lipid metabolism, inflammation, and vascular dysfunction .^1,2

The term is useful because metabolic and cardiovascular disorders can share biological pathways and influence one another. Metabolic disturbances can affect processes such as insulin signaling, lipid homeostasis, blood pressure regulation, and vascular function, helping link metabolic abnormalities with cardiovascular disease .²

Cardiometabolic is broader than metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome refers to a recognized clustering of specific metabolic risk factors, whereas cardiometabolic can describe a wider range of biological processes, risk factors, health states, and diseases linking metabolism with the cardiovascular system .^1,3