Hscrp Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.
These are the MediaLab courses that cover Hscrp and links to relevant pages within the course.
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| Risk Markers We have listed the 'classic' cardiovascular risk markers as LDL-C, HDL-C and triglycerides. But there are many more cardiovascular risk markers as well as cardiovascular risk factors. A cardiovascular risk factor is a condition (not a laboratory analyte) that is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Examples include: Age Gender (males are at increased risk) Heredity Hypertension Cigarette Smoking Obesity Diabetes StressThere are also negative risk factors, factors which decrease a person's risk of cardiovascular disease. Examples include: Optimal HDL-C concentration Exercise Estrogen Moderate alcohol intakeThis course will not focus on cardiovascular risk factors. Instead we will focus on newer, emerging cardiovascular risk markers. There are well over twenty well-studied cardiovascular risk markers; in this course we will focus on some of the more established markers and the ones which are becoming more commonly measured in the clinical laboratory. These include apolipoprotein A1/apolipoprotein B100, Lp(a), oxidized LDL, LpPLA2, hsCRP and lipoprotein particle size and concentration.It is important to remember that the association between a cardiovascular risk marker and actually having or developing cardiovascular disease is a statistical one. The fact that a patient has a particular risk marker which is abnormal simply increases the probability of developing cardiovascular disease, it does not mean that he or she is certain to develop cardiovascular disease. Conversely, if an individual does not have a particular cardiovascular risk marker present it does not guarantee protection against cardiovascular disease. We must always remember that some percentage of individuals who have heart attacks or strokes will not have abnormal risk markers present. | View Page |
| High Sensitivity-C-Reactive Protein C-reactive protein (CRP) is a very sensitive acute phase reactant. Serum CRP levels increase following a variety of pro-inflammatory events such as infection, tissue necrosis, trauma, surgery and even malignancy. CRP levels can increase quickly and dramatically (often 100 fold) during inflammation. CRP can activate compliment, bind Fc receptors and can function as an opsonin, enhancing phagocytosis with certain infections. Measurement of CRP is not new, it has been on clinical laboratory testing menus for decades. However, a newer version of the CRP test is now in use to assess cardiovascular risk.High sensitivity-CRP (hs-CRP) assays have been developed that are more sensitive to the more subtle changes that can occur during chronic vascular inflammation. (Recall that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory process.) By measuring hsCRP we can get a glimpse at vascular function. CRP has been shown to be an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic disease and cardiac death. A 2002 prospective study of more than 27,000 patients showed that the CRP concentration is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular events than the LDL-cholesterol level. | View Page |