C-reactive Protein Test

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a protein which is created by the liver and is located in the blood. CRP amounts in the blood grows if there is an inflammation anywhere in the body and thus elevated amounts of CRP is reason for concern and may be an indication of burns, inflammation, trauma, infection, active inflammatory arthritis, some cancers and more recently CRP has been connected to atherosclerosis and heart disease.

The role of CRP is to join to phosphocholine on microbes and it aids phagocytosis by macrophages which means that it helps in the destruction and absorption of bacteria, dead cells and tiny mineral particles.

CRP is believed to play an important role as an early defense system against infections in the body. In instances of acute inflammation CRP amounts go up as much as 50,000 times above normal, typically within 6 hours and peaks at 48 hours. The CRP amount is a really precise indication of an inflammation since the only known factor to interfere with CRP production is liver failure.

Measuring CRP amounts as a result is useful in determining how a disease is progressing, and whether or not medications given for the disease are working. Measuring CRP requires collecting and analyzing the patients blood; in normal results there is typically no CRP whatsoever detected in the blood.

A high sensitivity test may be used to check your CRP level called an hs-CRP test. This test will find even trace amounts of CRP that a normal blood test would not pick up. In healthy people CRP levels are lower than 10 mg/L and increases slightly as one ages. Higher amounts are found in women during late pregnancy, in women taking oral contraceptives and in cases of mild inflammation and viral infections. Your CRP levels will tell whether you are low risk, high risk or average risk for developing heart disease.

In more recent times elevated levels of CRP have been linked to diabetes, hypertension and as mentioned previously, heart disease and strokes; high levels of hs-CRP have consistently been used to predict repeat coronary problems in patients. There are also studies which suggest that elevated amounts of hs-CRP can be used to predict recurrences of strokes and peripheral artery disease.

As increased CRP levels may be caused by an infection or inflammation, a single measurement is not enough to forecast a persons risk of heart problems. As such diagnosing heart problems is done by performing two separate CRP tests two weeks apart and using the average number of both readings to estimate a persons likelihood of suffering heart disease.

In instances of increased CRP, it is useless to try and treat the raised CRP in itself, the key is to treat the underlying condition that is causing the abnormal elevation and decreasing the risk of heart problems. The most effective methods for lessening the risk of heart problems are regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, and giving up smoking if you are a smoker. In some instances medication may be the only answer.