CRP AND STATINS
REDUCING ONE MARKER OF INFLAMMATION DOESN’T SEEM TO HAVE MUCH IMPACT ON HEART DISEASE, ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS
Does reducing a blood marker associated with inflammation called C-reactive protein or CRP by using a statin medication, typically used to reduce blood cholesterol, help avoid heart problems in the future? Not according to the latest study published in the Lancet. Erin Michos, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins, says this study and others help define where CRP may or may not be important.
MICHOS: CRP was associated with many of these metabolic risk factors, including elevated body mass index, elevated triglycerides, low HDL and smoking. It may be that CRP is just a good surrogate marker for a lot of these unmeasured factors of poorer health. I think CRP may be a good integrator of increased metabolic risk, and that’s why I may use it in determining risk stratification of who might go on to have a cardiovascular event. :30
Michos says the research is also fairly robust on who will likely benefit from a statin. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.
