Laurence Sperling, MD: Multidisciplinary Strategies to Combat Obesity Epidemic

In this expert discussion at the 22nd Annual World Congress Insulin Resistance Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease (WCIRDC), Laurence Sperling, MD, founder of the Center for Heart Disease Prevention at Emory University School of Medicine, explored obesity’s impact on cardiovascular health and emphasized the urgent need for multidisciplinary and upstream approaches to addressing the global obesity pandemic.

Sperling highlighted the key takeaways from a recent European Society of Cardiology (ESC) consensus statement, including a statistic that two-thirds of obesity-related deaths are cardiovascular-related, centering the pivotal role of all clinicians, particularly cardiovascular specialists, in tackling the global issue of obesity.

Sperling cited groundbreaking data from the SELECT trial, which demonstrated a 20% reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in individuals with ASCVD and obesity, even in the absence of diabetes. While acknowledging the transformative potential of advanced pharmacotherapies and bariatric surgery, he stressed that these individual-level interventions alone are insufficient to reverse the obesity epidemic. Instead, Sperling called for expanded collaboration across primary care, public health, and policy sectors to address systemic and societal drivers of obesity, including improving upstream prevention strategies.

Notably, Sperling pointed to alarming findings that 80% of young adults in the U.S. are already on the path to cardiometabolic disease and only 2% of adults over age 65 are free from related concerns. He urged healthcare stakeholders to move beyond siloed specialties and forge partnerships with communities to build trust and implement meaningful prevention strategies. He emphasized that while current treatment options are powerful, long-term success depends on a unified, systemic approach to reducing obesity and its cardiovascular consequences.

Laurence Sperling has no relevant disclosures to report.

Reference

Sperling L. A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Obesity - Cardiology. Presented at the 22nd Annual World Congress Insulin Resistance Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease (WCIRDC). Los Angeles, California. December 12-14, 2024.