Your heart, kidneys and metabolism are one connected story.
Heart, kidney and metabolic disease is not a distant evil. The choices we make every day move us closer to it or further away. TRIVENA CHI, a CKM Health Initiative, helps you understand it, stay ahead of it, and live well with it, in plain language from a nephrology nurse.
First videos coming soon
Most of my patients heard the words "kidney disease" for the first time when their kidneys had already failed.
For about two decades I have cared for people with kidney disease, first in Nigeria and now as a researcher in the United States. In the dialysis unit, more than 85% of the patients I saw every day came to me at end stage. The few who had heard of kidney disease thought of it as something evil and far away, not something shaped by their daily lives.
I also learned that it is rarely just the kidneys. High blood pressure, diabetes, extra weight and heart disease are woven together. Whichever comes first, the others tend to follow, and caring for one changes the others.
In 2023 the American Heart Association gave this a name: cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome. TRIVENA CHI exists so people understand it long before it reaches end stage: what it is, what moves us toward it, and what we can do at every step.
Three systems, one network
Heart and blood vessels
High blood pressure strains the heart and the tiny vessels in every organ, often for years without symptoms.
Kidneys
Your kidneys filter your blood all day. Damage is silent until it is advanced, but simple tests can find it early.
Metabolism
Blood sugar, weight around the waist and cholesterol affect both the heart and the kidneys.
Stress, sleep and the conditions we live in affect all three. That's why we talk about them together.
Wherever you are, there is something you can do
Understand it
What CKM is, how the heart, kidneys and metabolism affect each other, and why it matters for you and your family.
Stay ahead of it
How everyday choices in food, movement, sleep, stress and medicines move you away from it, and the checks that find it early.
Live well with it
Already living with high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney disease? Practical help to manage it and protect the rest of your body.
Know your numbers
| Check | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Blood pressure | How hard blood pushes on your vessels. High readings can quietly damage the heart and kidneys. |
| Blood sugar (HbA1c) | Your average blood sugar over about three months. It finds diabetes and prediabetes. |
| Kidney function (eGFR) | How well your kidneys filter, worked out from a simple blood test for creatinine. |
| Urine protein (UACR) | Whether protein is leaking into your urine, one of the earliest signs of kidney damage. |
Your health worker can tell you which checks you need and how often, based on your own health and family history.
Margaret Ayorinde
Founder, TRIVENA CHI
Margaret is a nephrology nurse and a PhD candidate in nursing science, researching how inflammation, stress and social conditions shape cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic health, and how self-management can improve it.
She has worked as a dialysis and nephrology nurse, a chief nursing officer and a nursing lecturer. TRIVENA CHI brings that experience to everyone, in words anyone can follow.
Follow along
Short, clear videos on blood pressure, blood sugar, kidney tests, stress and everyday self-management. Follow now so you see the first ones as soon as they're out.