Medical News Summary: CRP may be linked to risk of heart disease

About: CRP may be linked to risk of heart disease
Date: 9 January 2005
Source: BBC News
Medical News Summary (summary of medical news story as reported by BBC News): A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that high levels of a protein called C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood may be an indicator of cardiovascular disease risk. This risk may be present even if cholesterol levels are normal. However, high cholesterol is the main cause of arterial clogging. High CRP levels have been linked to clogged arteries and blood vessel damage in the heart. Statin treatment has been found to reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering the CRP level. Statins act as an anti-inflammatory (reducing CRP levels) as well as a cholesterol lowering drug. One study concluded that people with low CRP levels as well as low cholesterol levels were the least likely to develop cardiovascular disease. However, researchers claim that more needs to be known about CRP and it’s effect on the body.
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4154995.stm
Related Disease Topics: Cardiovascular disease
Related Symptom Topics: High cholesterol, inflammation, clogged arteries

Related Medical News Channels: This medical news summary article refers to the following medical channel categories:

Research
research and high cholesterol
Research and inflammation
Research and clogged arteries
research and cardiovascular disease
research and heart disease
risk and high cholesterol
Risk and inflammation
Risk and clogged arteries
risk and cardiovascular disease
risk and heart disease
cause of high cholesterol
Cause of inflammation
Cause of clogged arteries
cause of cardiovascular disease
cause of heart disease
Diagnosis
Diagnosis and cardiovascular disease
Diagnosis and heart disease
medication and heart disease
medication and cardiovascular disease
Medication and inflammation
Medication and clogged arteries

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