C reactive protein is an inflammatory marker associated with elevated risk for heart attack, stroke, arterial disease and sudden cardiac death

C-reactive protein also known as CRP is the name of a blood test. The test does not indicate anything specifically but high amounts of CRP tells medical professionals that there is acute inflammation occurring in the body. Current research suggests that this could be an indication that the patient is at high risk for heart attack, stroke, and sudden cardiac death.

A c-reactive protein test has generally been used with patients that suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus to assess how well certain treatments are working. However recently, studies have shown that there are elevated levels of CRP in people with heart disease and arterial sclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The question that medical professionals are now asking is if c-reactive protein is a marker that indicates heart disease or a cause of it. Despite this medical professionals have found that high sensitivity CRP is a good indication of heart health. This high sensitivity c-reactive protein test measures very low levels of CRP and is used to assess risks for heart attack, stroke, and arterial sclerosis. For this reason c-reactive protein tests are also being added to cholesterol testing.

The normal c-reactive protein level is about 4.9 milligrams per liter and the best level is about 2 milligrams per liter. It has been found in numerous studies that there is a strong link between CRP, ldl cholesterol, and triglycerides. If your CRP levels are lower is seems to be easier to reduce ldl cholesterol, hdl cholesterol and triglycerides. This may explain why some people have a harder time reducing cholesterol and fat levels.

Interesting research has been done involving omega-3 fatty acids and inflammatory levels. The study found that participants that took fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids received inflammatory relief equal to that found in prescription drugs. A c-reactive protein test was done to determine that there were in fact lower levels of CRP in the bloodstream. This is good news for many arthritis sufferers who need relief, but don’t want to take prescriptions because of the increased heart risks caused by the prescriptions.

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