Cardiologists are using a blood test that’s been around for decades, in a new way, to predict heart problems.
The measure of inflammation is now considered just as important as measuring cholesterol.
Health Matters with TSET, Amy Slanchik explains.
Measuring Inflammation in the Body
The American College of Cardiology now recommends doctors use a CRP test, which measures inflammation, to learn more about a patient’s heart.
“We’re realizing how important it is as an additive to our lab test to help people understand their risk of heart disease,” Cardiologist Dr. Saran Oliver said.
Dr. Oliver is a cardiologist with Ascension St. John.
She explains: Inflammation in the body is necessary, but trouble comes when it’s in overdrive.
“Inflammation is your body’s natural response to an infection, or any kind of thing going on in the body,” she said. “The body gives this natural response of inflammation for healing and things like that to make certain, cytokines and hormones come in to heal the body. The issue is not the inflammation that your body produces. The issue is chronic inflammation. We don’t want the immune system always turned on.”
The Difference between Inflammation and Cholesterol
Dr. Oliver has used the high-sensitivity CRP test to measure patients’ inflammation over the years. It’s a tool she plans to use more, and she said people can ask their primary care doctors for the test, too.
The HS CRP test for inflammation has been around for decades, but is now starting to be used on a regular basis, as a predictor of future heart issues.
The test serves a different purpose than looking at cholesterol.
“The HS CRP is more so the beginning of the process, whereas the cholesterol and cholesterol measurements are kind of a downstream outcome of the process,” Dr. Oliver said. “So when you have…chronic inflammation, that is what leads to the elevated cholesterol that we see.”
Lifestyle Choices that Combat Chronic Inflammation
Dr. Oliver points to lifestyle choices people can make to combat chronic inflammation.
“Making sure we’re eating whole foods, not processed foods. I tell people a lot of times, if there’s more than five ingredients on a box or you can’t, you know, pronounce the words, you probably shouldn’t be eating it,” she said.
Dr. Oliver said exercise can help fight inflammation, too.
“Gentle exercise is fine if it’s just walking, that’s completely fine,” she said. “But again, we want to get that movement and that activity in to help reduce our risk of heart disease.”
She said smoking is a big source of inflammation.
“Smoking inflames everything in our body,” Dr. Oliver said. “But specifically, our vessels in general, not just heart vessels, our brain vessels, our leg vessels, the big aorta in our body. So smoking is really a big factor that increases inflammation. And of course, we always tell people we really got to stop smoking, because it’s not healthy for anything in our bodies.”
Dr. Oliver said in general, if you don’t have a family history of cardiovascular issues, it’s time to start screening for heart problems around age 40 and older.
To read more about the connection between inflammation and heart issues, click here.
