Blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) can help predict cardiovascular risk in women with metabolic syndrome, according to Harvard research reported recently in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. High levels of CRP, a marker of inflammation, have been associated with increased risk of heart attack, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Metabolic syndrome, associated with a significant increase in cardiovascular risk, is the clustering of three or more of five conditions: abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low levels of HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure and high glucose levels. Harvard researchers studied data from 14,719 participants in the ongoing Women's Health Study, and reported that their analysis of women with metabolic syndrome showed that those with the highest CRP levels (greater than 3.0 mg/L) were 2.1 times more likely to have a cardiovascular event than those with the lowest CRP levels (less than 1.0 mg/L).
COPYRIGHT 2003 Nelson Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
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