Title:
C-Reactive Protein, the New Testing Standard
Summary
The latest factor to determine your risk of a heart attack is the C-Reactive Protein (CRP) test. A simple blood test can check your CRP level. A reading of 3.0 or higher triples your risk for a heart attack. When chronic inflammation is present, the CRP levels increase. There is now evidence that chronic low-grade inflammation causes atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.
Keywords
C-Reactive Protein heart attack stroke inflammation CRP
Article Body
The latest factor to determine your risk of a heart attack is the C-Reactive Protein (CRP) test. CRP is a molecule produced by the liver in response to an inflammatory response. A simple blood test can check your CRP level. A reading of 3.0 or higher triples your risk for a heart attack.
Under normal circumstances, inflammation is a short term condition; signs include swelling, redness, and warmth. The swelling and redness are caused by extra blood flow to the injured area. This brings in more infection fighting white blood cells to the area. The warmth is another of your bodys defense mechanisms. Microbes are killed by heat. In the short term, this is not a problem.
When chronic inflammation is present, the CRP levels increase. Chronic inflammation can be caused by rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, long-term infections, smoking, obesity, and high blood pressure. It is also caused by plaque buildup in the blood vessels. There is now evidence that chronic low-grade inflammation causes atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.
Alcohol one drink per day has an anti-inflammatory effect
The following medications are being studied for their cardiovascular anti-inflammatory effect:
Multivitamins showen to reduce CRP by 1/3 after six months
Researchers are still studying the exact connection between inflammation and heart disease. I would recommend adding a CRP test next time you are getting a routine blood test. It is rather inexpensive and could shine some light on a possible problem before it is too late.
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