Elevated Levels of C Reactive protein in the Blood is a Major
Risk Factor for Heart Disease
Heart Attack Risk is
increased with High Levels of C Reactive Protein and High Cholesterol.
According to a study
conducted by the New England Journal of medicine of the
twelve major risk factors for heart disease, CRP was the strongest
predictor of future cardiac events
According to the Harvard physicians' health
study, CRP levels are able to predict a first heart attack
in healthy men six years in advance. People with the highest level
of CRP in their blood were three times as likely to suffer a heart
attack.
According to the Nurses Health Story, people with
high levels of CRP had four times the risk of heart attack even
if they were non smokers, with normal cholesterol levels.
C Reactive Protein CRP
C Reactive Protein is a member of the class of
acute phase reactants, as its levels rise dramatically during
inflammation processes occurring in the body. Measuring and charting
C-reactive protein values can prove useful in determining disease
progress or the effectiveness of treatments. CRP is therefore
a marker of inflammation.
It is thought to assist in binding to foreign and
damaged cells and affect the response to disease.
CRP Amounts Vary In Different People
The amount of CRP produced by the body varies from
person to person, and this is affected by an individual's genetic
makeup (accounting for almost half of the variation in CRP levels
between different people) and lifestyle.
Higher CRP levels tend to be found in individuals
who
-
Smoke
-
Have high blood pressure
-
Are overweight
- Don't exercise
Lean, athletic individuals tend to have lower CRP levels.
Too Much Inflammation Is Dangerous
Research shows that too much inflammation can sometimes
have adverse effects on the blood vessels which transport oxygen
and nutrients throughout our bodies.
Atherosclerosis, which involves the formation of
fatty deposits or plaques in the inner walls of the arteries,
is now considered in many ways an inflammatory disorder of the
blood vessels, similar to how arthritis is an inflammatory disorder
of the bones and joints.
Inflammation not only affects the atherosclerotic
phase of heart disease, but also causes the rupturing of plaques
which can then travel and interfere with blood flow, causing a
heart attack.
CRP Levels Are Measured By a Simple Blood Test
The reason CRP can be used by physicians as part
of the assessment of a patient's risk for heart disease, is because
it is a stable molecule and can be easily measured with a simple
blood test.
In patients already suffering from heart disease,
doctors can use CRP levels to determine which patients are at
high risk for recurring coronary events.
To measure the CRP level, a "high-sensitivity"
CRP or HS-CRP test needs to be performed and analyzed by a laboratory.
This is a simple blood test designed for greater accuracy in measuring
CRP, which allows the physician to use the result in the assessment
of cardiovascular risk.
Guidelines
| TOTAL CRP
|
RISK CLASS
|
| Less then 0.70
|
Lowest risk
|
| 0.7 to 11
|
Low
|
| 1.2 to 1.9
|
Average
|
| 2.0 to 3.8
|
Higher
|
| 3.9 to 15
|
Highest
|
Treatments
High C Reactive protein is treated in the same
manner as the other cardiac risk factors.
You can take control stay healthy; reduce C reactive
protein, and your risk of developing heart disease by adopting
a healthy lifestyle. You have nothing to lose and everything to
gain by adopting a healthy active lifestyle. Here is how you can
start.
Why wait till it's too late, begin living a heart
healthy lifestyle now.
Disclaimer: The information that
I am writing on these pages are for educational purposes only,
and are intended to inspire us to learn more about heart disease.
By doing so we can learn how to eliminate the leading cause of
death, and create a better life for us and our children. I am
only a heart patient, in no way should what I am writing, replace
any medical advice given to you by your doctors.
|
Heart
