Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: Dus¡an on 07/12/2009 19:30:04
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Dus¡an asked the Naked Scientists:
Somewhere I read that it is possible to tell if a person will sometime have a heart attack according to a level of B-type natriuretic peptide protein in one's blood.
Is that true?
And, or if not, is it possible to find out whether a person will have (or there is a threat of) a heart attack one day?
Dusian
What do you think?
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CRP which is a globular protein which can be chemically discovered in the blood. This is not a sign of an impending heart attack but rather a cause. Large amounts (3mg/litre) can cause heart attacks.Thus when these large amounts are discovered it is a sign that a heart attack may be near.
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CRP is an acute phase protein used as an indicator of systemic inflammation. Chronically elevated CRP is associated with heart disease, but there are lots of reasons why an isolated CRP measurement may be high, including having a sore throat. For this reason it is not a sensitive and specific predictor of a future heart attack. That said, it may play a role in the vascular injury that precedes arterial disease and therefore may nonetheless represent a therapeutic target in cardiovascular disease prevention.
Chris