Cardiovascular–kidney–metabolic (CKM) syndrome was formalized by the American Heart Association in 2023 to capture the biological and clinical continuum linking excess adiposity, metabolic dysfunction, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Population-based studies indicate that CKM stage ≥1 affects approximately three-quarters to nine-tenths of adults in contemporary cohorts, with stage 2 consistently representing the largest population reservoir. Importantly, CKM distribution is not uniform: advanced stages rise sharply with age and are more frequent in men and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.
