Obesity as Stage 1 CKM: Why Early Intervention Matters for Long-Term Cardiovascular Protection

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) coexist across patient populations, driven by rising obesity rates and unhealthy lifestyle patterns. The cardio-kidney-metabolic (CKM) framework highlight show these conditions are not isolated entities but a continuous, interlinked spectrum. Within this continuum, obesity represents the starting point, which is the earliest and most modifiable point of intervention. In this instalment of the CKM cardiology series, Dato’ Sri Dr Azhari Rosman discusses why obesity must be recognised and treated early as a chronic disease, how neurohormonal and behavioural mechanisms reinforce weight gain, and why modern anti-obesity pharmacotherapies, particularly glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), are reshaping and influencing preventive cardiology.