all Paul M. Ridker stories

CRP shown to predict heart disease among patients with metabolic syndrome

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:28:20 -0400

It is estimated that over 50 million people in the United States have at least three of the five medical problems that result in a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. In a study at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), 14,719 female participants were followed for eight years. Among those followed, 3,597 women were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome upon entering the study. Women in the study with metabolic syndrome who had the highest levels of C-reactive protein, or CRP, were over two times more likely to have a cardiovascular event than those who only had metabolic syndrome. Previous studies have linked high CRP levels to increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and Type II diabetes. "We showed that even for these women with metabolic syndrome, CRP testing was useful in showing who was at low, moderate, and high risk," said the study's lead author, Paul Ridker, of BWH, and a professor at Harvard Medical School. "Thus, CRP is picking up many components of the metabolic syndrome we have been otherwise unable to measure in daily clinic practice." The findings appeared in the January 2003 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Protein predicts heart disease better than cholesterol

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:28:09 -0400

C-reactive protein's claim to fame is based on its power to predict a woman's risk of developing heart attack and stroke. In fact, high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) were found to presage a woman's chances of developing heart disease more accurately than that reigning oracle of the cardiology world, cholesterol. Researchers Paul Ridker, Nader Rifai, and their colleagues followed the medical fates of nearly 28,000 women, aged 45 and older, over an eight-year period. Women with high levels of CRP at the beginning of the study were twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as those with low levels. In fact, women with high CRP were more likely to develop heart disease than women with high cholesterol.

Better way to predict heart attacks is discovered

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:08:30 -0400

A new test measures levels of a protein that increase with the amount of inflammation in coronary arteries. Healthy women with the highest levels of this substance have more than four times the risk of suffering a heart or blood-vessel problem than women with lower levels of the marker. Previous research revealed that men with the highest levels of this protein in their blood have three times the risk of heart attack and two times the risk of stroke compared to men with the lowest levels. The Food and Drug Administration approved the first test for this protein in November 1999.