sensitized by inflammation have a greater tendency to initiate dangerous blood clots." When the body mounts an inflammatory response, it releases a substance called C-reactive protein into the bloodstream. Because the amount of C-reactive protein in the blood possibly correlates with the extent of the body's inflammatory response, many scientists regard this protein as a marker for inflammation and as a target for research to determine the role of infection and other factors such as high blood levels of cholesterol and cigarette smoking in the initiation and progression of cardiovascular disease. At the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in November, researchers reported that cigarette smokers have elevated levels of C-reactive protein in their blood. Scientists also presented research results showing that individuals who were suffering a heart attack and who had high blood levels of C-reactive protein had a slower than normal response to clot-busting drugs, which are frequently the first line of treatment for heart attack In a research paper published in 1998 in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, scientists reported that women with the highest levels of C-reactive protein had a fivefold increase in the risk of developing heart attack and stroke and a sevenfold increase in risk for these diseases, when compared to women with the lowest level of C-reactive protein. In 1997 the same research group reported that C-reactive protein was a potent predictor of heart attack risk in healthy men.

4. Detecting people at risk for heart attack and stroke through non-surgical imaging technology
Most heart attacks and strokes are triggered by blood clots unleashed by plaque obstructions in the blood vessels. The clots, which are formed when the plaque obstructions rupture, block blood flow to the heart and brain, thereby causing a heart attack or stroke. This year scientists described research showing how magnetic reson
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Contact: Cathy Yarbrough
cathyy@heart.org
214-706-1340
American Heart Association
30-Dec-1998

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