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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Role Of Inflammation In Causing Heart Disease Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a disease in which plaque builds up inside the coronary arteries that supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. CHD can lead to a heart attack, which is a leading killer of both men and women. It is actually a result of coronary artery disease (CAD). With CAD, plaque first grows in the coronary until the blood flow to the heart’s muscle is limited. CAD might be chronic, caused by narrowing of the coronary artery and limitation of the blood supply to part of the muscle. Or it can be acute, resulting from a sudden plaque that ruptures. Traditional risk factors for CAD are high LDL (low-density lipoprotein), low HDL (high-density lipoprotein), high blood pressure, family history, diabetes, smoking, being post-menopausal for women and being older than 45 for men, and obesity. On the other hand, inflammation has been placed an equally important role as cholesterol in causing heart disease. Inflammation is an essential part of the body’s healing system because without it, injuries would fester and simple infections could be deadly. Its aim is to defend the body against bacteria, viruses, and other foreign invaders, to remove debris, and to help repair damaged tissue.
Inflammation is traditionally defined as a localized reaction that produces redness, warmth and pain. It is the result of injury to the wall of blood vessels because of smoking, cholesterol-containing particles and high blood sugar levels. Invasion of white blood cells will be attracted into the affected area. These white blood cells also take in cholesterol and ultimately form the lipid core of the cholesterol plaque. Inflammation in the cholesterol plaque itself also makes it more prone to rupture that can cause a heart attack. Patients with inflammatory disorders like rheumatoid arthritis tend to have a higher probability of developing CAD. When inflammation occurs, the levels of inflammatory markers in the blood will be elevated. C-reactive protein (CRP) is the most extensively studied marker of inflammation. A traditional measurement kit is unable to detect inflammation in the blood vessels of the heart. But doctors can now measure low levels of inflammation in the walls of heart arteries with a more sensitive test know as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CPR). Prevailing clinical guidelines require hs-CRP screening test to be carried out only in those who are not at a high risk of developing coronary heart disease. If a patient is already at high risk, there is no need for any further tests. According to The American Heart Association’s guidelines, hs-CRP level that is less than 1 mg/dL indicates a low risk of developing a coronary heart event, 1 mg/dL to 3 mg/dL indicates an average risk, and more than 3 mg/dL means high risk. If the hs-CRP result is above 3 mg/dL, the best way to lower it is through diet, exercise, smoking cessation and good control of one's blood pressure. But if hs-CRP levels are more than 10 mg/dL, then the person might be suffering from some kind of infection and this would make the prediction of risk inaccurate. It is advisable for the hs-CRP test to be repeated in 2 weeks to allow any infection to settle down. Obesity, diabetes and smoking, according to studies, could contribute to an inflammatory reaction in the body but lifestyle modifications and drugs could always help lower hs-CRP levels. In the Jupiter trial, which studied 18,000 healthy men and women who had normal LDL cholesterol levels and hs-CRP of 2mg/dL or higher, researchers gave half of the participants a cholesterol-lowering medication called rosuvastatin. The drug reduced their hs-CRP levels by 37 percent and, surprisingly, it also significantly lowered their risk of stroke, heart attack, hospitalization and even death. The findings were published in 2008. Lifestyle modifications would be the preferred way of lowering a healthy person’s elevated hs-CRP level. This means losing weight, exercising more and giving up unhealthy habits like smoking. If there were good response from these changes, then maintaining a healthy lifestyle would be the main mode of treatment.
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