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C-Reactive Protein in Coronary Artery
Disease and Stroke
The traditional risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and
high levels of cholesterol are known to increase the risk of heart
attacks. Researchers have found that many heart attacks occur in
apparently low-risk people. Recent evidence suggests that inflammation may
also be an important indicator of risk for future heart attacks and
strokes. "Inflammation" is the process in which the body
responds to injury. Researchers have found that blood levels of a protein
that reflect underlying levels of inflammation are elevated many years
before a first heart attack or stroke. These data were published in the
April 3, 1997, New England Journal of Medicine.
Inflammation is understood to be an important mechanism in
atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. C-reactive protein (CRP) is
one of the most sensitive markers of inflammation. Elevated serum levels
of C-reactive protein (CRP) have been found to be associated with coronary
artery disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. More recently,
evidence has also demonstrated CRP in predicting future cardiovascular
events in otherwise healthy people.
Researchers have found that men with the highest levels of CRP,
compared to men with lower levels of CRP, have a threefold increase in
their risk of future heart attack and have a twofold increase in their
risk of future stroke. These risks were independent of other traditional
risk factors including high cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure and
obesity. Even more interesting is that elevated levels of CRP were found
to predict risk of first heart attacks as many as six to eight years into
the future. It appears that measuring CRP may provide a method to detect
worrisome levels of athersclerosis in otherwise healthy persons.
These findings are important to researchers, since they raise the
possibility that atherosclerosis may be an inflammatory disease.
Researchers have also found that preventative aspirin therapy was greatest
among those with the highest levels of underlying inflammations. Since
aspirin is an anti-inflammatory and blood thinning medicine, these data
suggest that other anti-inflammatory therapies may also help prevent and
treat heart disease.
No one knows what causes the low-grade inflammation that seems to put
healthy people at risk. New findings suggest that an infection- possibly
caused by bacteria or virus- might contribute or cause the atherosclerosis
process.
At this time, patients cannot have their CRP blood level measured. The
available tests aren’t sensitive enough to pick up the small amounts
noted in the research. Regardless of one’s inflammatory risks, the
American Heart Association recommends these things to all heart patients
and the general public:
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Stop smoking and avoid second hand smoke.
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Keep your blood pressure controlled.
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Eat a healthy diet low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.
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Maintain an active lifestyle by exercising regularly.
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Maintain a healthy weight.
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Manage diabetes, if you have it.
These approaches are known to significantly reduce the risks of heart
disease and stroke. |
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