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Dr. Christopher P. Cannon
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Losing weight, exercising, stopping smoking and controlling your cholesterol will all help to lower your C.R.P.
Q: What does this C-reactive protein study mean for understanding, treating, and preventing heart disease?
My colleague Paul Ridker has done numerous studies showing that a blood test called C-reactive protein, or C.R.P., which is a marker of irritation or inflammation in the arteries, if that's elevated, that is a sign that you're at increased risk of a heart attack. Our current study asks the question, if high C.R.P. is bad, does lowering C.R.P. reduce the risk of a heart attack? And fortunately we found that it does.
Q: What can people do to keep their C.R.P. low?
They need to be getting it down to below two or even ideally below one. For patients who have had heart attacks, this is a key thing to now check along with your cholesterol. And there are lots of things that you can do, all the usual things that many of us are doing now to reduce C.R.P. and reduce your heart risk. Losing weight, exercising, stopping smoking, controlling your cholesterol in some part will all help.
Q: How do you get your C.R.P. checked?
Fortunately it's very simple. It's just a blood test. It's done at all labs across the country, very inexpensive. And it can be done when you check your cholesterol. And I think this is what we're advocating, certainly for any patient with heart disease. The blood test is very different than cholesterol in that it's a marker of irritation within the arteries and of how healthy the blood vessels are.
Dr. Christopher P. Cannon is co-author of a study that looks at the relationship between good and bad cholesterol. A frequent lecturer, his research is published in numerous journals including the New England Journal of Medicine.
Related Articles
Related Episode
Recommended Web Sites
This Johns Hopkins site explains how C-reactive protein levels can predict heart attack risk.
Justmove.org is an American Heart Association site on physical activity, to help you reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, featuring health facts and practical tips.
Lab Tests Online helps patients and caregivers better understand the many clinical lab tests that are part of routine care, as well as diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of conditions and diseases
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Published: September 15, 2005
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