By Chris Fields
Everybody: “Hello H.E.A.L. Mississippi, what do you guys do?”
Us: “We are a healthcare organization, and our mission is to reduce the impact of cardiometabolic diseases in Mississippi. Our vision is to establish a standard of care for people with cardiometabolic diseases … ”
Them: “Cardiometa-who?”
This is often the spoken and unspoken sentiment I get when explaining our mission and vision to most non-health professionals and even some health professionals. Recently, a close colleague made me realize that there’s no benefit if people don’t know what you’re doing after they have encountered you, seen company correspondence, or visited your platform.
Health education is also an essential part of our mission, and if our audience leaves our platform or encounters just as confused as before they came, then we are not serving them well. Understanding is just as essential as the information itself.
What is cardiometabolic disease?
Cardiometabolic disease best describes diseases related to energy metabolism that affect the cardiovascular system. These diseases include diabetes, obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and insulin resistance, which can lead to more serious conditions like heart attacks and stroke.
Mississippi has the highest prevalence of diabetes in the nation and ranks high in hypertension, obesity, heart attack, and stroke. What makes these cardiometabolic diseases so dangerous is that they normally come in clusters, and they affect blood circulation and nutrient distribution.
Effects on blood circulation and nutrient distribution
Blood is literally our lifeline. If blood doesn’t circulate in and out of our hearts, our heart stops and we die. Blood is carried to and away from the heart by our vascular system, which consists of veins and arteries, with the main purpose of carrying oxygen and nutrients to our tissues and organs. Let’s briefly look at how some cardiometabolic diseases impede this circulatory process.
- Diabetes is a condition of high amounts of blood sugar levels. The higher the blood sugar levels, the more likely it is to make your blood thick and sticky, which can slow blood flow.
- Hypertension is a condition of consistently elevated blood pressure or too much force on your artery walls.
- High cholesterol is a condition of too much fat in your blood, which can cause fat deposits to start accumulating around your artery walls.
Conditions like obesity, insulin resistance, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease have more to do with poor nutrient distribution and improper energy metabolism, with obesity being a main risk factor for other cardiometabolic diseases. It’s not the accumulation of weight that makes obesity dangerous but the improper energy metabolism and poor nutrient distribution. When nutrients aren’t properly metabolized and evenly distributed throughout your body, they accumulate in your bloodstream and impede the proper functioning of the vascular system.
Hopefully, I have increased your understanding of cardiometabolic diseases. If not, feel free to reach out, and we will be happy to serve you.
Chris Fields is the executive director of H.E.A.L. Mississippi, a nonprofit whose mission is to reduce the impact of diabetes and other cardiometabolic disease in Mississippi. Our vision is to establish a high-quality, easily accessible standard of care for diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases. God created us to be whole and healthy, and He’s made provisions for us to walk in His divine plan related to our health and healing.