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  • Perspective
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Improving prevention strategies for cardiometabolic disease

Nature Medicine volume 26, pages 320–325 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

There is a growing burden of cardiometabolic disease in many parts of the world. Despite some progress in its prevention, more can be done to tackle risks of its development in the community and in different specialty clinics. Currently, the identification and management of those at elevated risk of developing cardiovascular disease or diabetes or with conditions such as fatty liver disease remains fragmented and is not linked to constructive lifestyle advice. In this Perspective, we argue for a more consistent weight-management approach, alongside a holistic assessment of the risk for developing cardiometabolic diseases, offering patients a range of simple or more-intensive evidence-based lifestyle options in an empathetic manner, with encouragement for repeated attempts and a willingness to embrace failure.

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Fig. 1: Risk assessment for cardiometabolic disease.
Fig. 2: Simple, specific, actionable, evidence-based advice on lifestyle.

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Acknowledgements

N.S. receives funding from the British Heart Foundation Research Excellence Award (RE/18/6/34217). We thank L. Coyle for technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Naveed Sattar & Jason M. R. Gill

  2. The Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    William Alazawi

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  1. Naveed Sattar
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Correspondence to Naveed Sattar.

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Competing interests

N.S. has consulted for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and Sanofi, and received grant support from Boehringer Ingeheim outside the submitted work. J.S. has received speakers’ honoraria from Janssen WA reports consultancy and sponsored lectures from Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Intercept IQVIA and UCB Pharma.

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Peer review information Hannah Stower was the primary editor on this article, and managed its editorial process and peer review in collaboration with the rest of the editorial team.

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Sattar, N., Gill, J.M.R. & Alazawi, W. Improving prevention strategies for cardiometabolic disease. Nat Med 26, 320–325 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0786-7

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