Comprehensive Cardiovascular Optimization ProgramA TCA program
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CARDIOMETABOLIC HEALTH

Your heart and your metabolism,
treated as one.

Most heart disease does not start in the heart. It builds over years from blood sugar, weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure problems that feed one another. Understanding that connection is the first step to changing it.

Dotted words explain themselves: hover over them or tap.

Conceptual relationship map with a person at the center, surrounded by a heart, waist measurement, blood sugar symbol, kidneys, and liver.

WHAT IT IS

Different organs.
A shared future.

The heart, blood sugar, weight, kidneys, and liver work together. When one is out of balance, it can affect the others and raise your risk over time.

Cardiometabolic
HealthOne connected system

Heart & blood vessels

Arteries, blood pressure, cholesterol

Weight & visceral fat

Fat around the organs, inflammation, metabolism

Blood sugar & insulin

Prediabetes, diabetes, insulin resistance

Kidneys & liver

Filtering, fatty liver, fluid balance

Weight ↔ HeartInfluences inflammation and blood pressure

Heart ↔ Blood sugarAffects blood sugar, insulin, and blood vessel health

Weight ↔ Kidneys & liverChanges hormone levels, fluid balance, and metabolism

Blood sugar ↔ Kidneys & liverCan strain kidney and liver function

What it is

Cardiometabolic health looks at how the cardiovascular system, blood sugar regulation, body weight, and the kidneys and liver affect one another. Problems in one area can worsen the others, raising the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease.

Why it helps with diagnosis

  • Finds connected risk factors earlier
  • Explains why patients may have several related conditions
  • Supports a more complete, personalized risk assessment

How cardiologists use it to optimize health

  • Assess blood pressure, lipids, glucose, kidney function, and weight together
  • Identify hidden drivers such as insulin resistance or visceral fat
  • Choose therapies that improve heart and metabolic health
  • Track progress across the whole patient, not just one number
Look at the whole picture.Healthier systems. Healthier tomorrows.
Take the Heart Check

WHY IT MATTERS

Common, silent,
and highly treatable.

Cardiometabolic problems rarely cause symptoms until damage is done. They are also among the most treatable causes of heart disease, which is why finding and addressing them early matters so much.

6.8%

of U.S. adults have optimal cardiometabolic health.

Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2022
9 in 10

U.S. adults have at least one cardiovascular, kidney, or metabolic risk factor.

JAMA, 2024
4 in 10

U.S. adults meet the criteria for metabolic syndrome.

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
2×

People with diabetes are twice as likely to have heart disease or a stroke, often at a younger age.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

It compounds.

High blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol each injure the lining of the arteries. Together, the risk multiplies rather than simply adds up.

It hides.

You can feel well with prediabetes, fatty liver, early kidney changes, or high triglycerides. Many people learn about them only after a heart attack or stroke.

It falls through the cracks.

Blood sugar, weight, cholesterol, and kidneys are often managed by different doctors at different visits. No one sees the whole picture.

It responds to treatment.

Modest weight loss, regular activity, better sleep, and newer medications for diabetes and weight can improve several numbers at once and lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney decline in the right patients.

WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS

Longer life.
More healthy years.

The case for treating cardiometabolic health rests on large, long-running studies and randomized trials. Taken together, they show benefits for both how long people live and how well they live.

Living longer

  • Up to 14.5 more years of life. Among 2 million adults in 39 countries, women free of five risk factors at age 50 (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, abnormal weight, diabetes, and smoking) lived an estimated 14.5 years longer than those with all five; men lived 11.8 years longer.Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium. N Engl J Med. 2025.
  • Nearly 9 more years with high cardiovascular health. U.S. adults with high scores on the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 had a life expectancy at age 50 about 8.9 years longer than those with low scores.Wang X, et al. Circulation. 2023.
  • Fewer heart attacks and strokes with treatment. In adults with cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity, a weekly GLP-1 medicine lowered the risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death by 20%.SELECT trial. N Engl J Med. 2023. Randomized trial of 17,604 adults.

Living better

  • More than a decade longer without heart disease. In the same global study, women without the five risk factors at age 50 lived 13.3 more years free of cardiovascular disease; men, 10.6 more years.Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium. N Engl J Med. 2025.
  • More years free of major chronic disease. Women with four or five healthy habits at age 50 lived 34.4 more years free of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, compared with 23.7 years for women with none; for men, 31.1 compared with 23.5 years.Li Y, et al. BMJ. 2020.
  • Preserved mobility and independence. A structured program of weight loss and physical activity cut the risk of losing mobility by 48% over four years in adults with type 2 diabetes.Look AHEAD Research Group. N Engl J Med. 2012. Randomized trial.

How to read this evidence. Population studies show strong associations between cardiometabolic health and longer, healthier lives; randomized trials show that treating these risks changes outcomes. Neither can predict an individual result. Your cardiologist will discuss how the evidence applies to your history, risk, and goals.

THE NUMBERS TO KNOW

Signs your metabolism
is affecting your heart.

Having three or more of the first five is called metabolic syndrome, a strong signal of rising heart and diabetes risk. Your cardiologist will interpret your own results in context.

Waist size40+ in men
35+ in women

Fat around the waist reflects fat around the organs, the most harmful kind.

Blood pressure130/85 or higher

Or taking blood-pressure medication.

Triglycerides150 mg/dL or higher

A blood fat that rises with insulin resistance.

HDL cholesterolBelow 40 in men
Below 50 in women

Low levels of this protective cholesterol add risk.

Fasting blood sugar100 mg/dL or higher

Or taking medication for blood sugar.

Also worth knowing

  • A1c (average blood sugar): 5.7% to 6.4% suggests prediabetes; 6.5% or higher suggests diabetes.
  • Kidney function: protein in the urine or reduced filtering (eGFR) are early signs the kidneys are involved.
  • Fatty liver: often found on routine blood tests or imaging, and closely linked to heart risk.
  • Lp(a) and ApoB: cholesterol measures that add detail beyond a standard panel.

HOW THE PROGRAM TREATS IT

Four principles,
built for cardiometabolic care.

The program’s four principles map directly onto the cardiometabolic picture, so each part of your plan supports the others.

01

Risk modification

Blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and kidney and liver markers, reviewed together, with medications chosen to protect the heart, including newer diabetes and weight medications when appropriate.

02

Physical activity

Regular movement improves how your body uses insulin, lowers blood pressure and triglycerides, and preserves muscle, which itself helps control blood sugar.

03

Weight loss

Reducing fat around the organs, even modestly, can improve several cardiometabolic numbers at once. Nutrition, behavior support, and medication are used when clinically appropriate.

04

Mental health

Stress and poor sleep raise blood pressure and blood sugar and make healthy change harder. Sleep apnea, which is common with excess weight, is also considered.

CARDIOMETABOLIC TESTING

Measuring what matters.

Your cardiologist builds a cardiometabolic picture from blood tests and the program’s included heart and vascular assessments. Bloodwork may be billed to your health insurance.

Blood sugar

A1c and fasting glucose to find prediabetes or diabetes, and to track progress.

Full lipid picture

Cholesterol, triglycerides, ApoB, and Lp(a) when appropriate.

Kidney and liver

Kidney filtering (eGFR), urine protein, and liver tests that reveal early metabolic strain.

Heart and arteries

Included assessments such as an echocardiogram and exercise stress test show how metabolic risk is affecting the heart and your fitness. See them explained

NEXT STEP

See where you stand.

The 2-minute Heart Check highlights which parts of your cardiometabolic picture may deserve attention. Private: nothing is stored or sent.

Take the Heart Check Request enrollment

Sources