How can you measure the amount of inflammatory damage? A great marker is turning out to be something called C-reactive protein (CRP). It is made in the liver and is secreted in response to a signal indicating an injury. It migrates to the damaged vessel where it helps amplify the cascade of inflammation that is developing. Among other things, it helps trap bad cholesterol in the inflamed aggregate. CRP is turning out to be a much better predictor of cardiovascular disease risk than cholesterol, even years in advance of disease onset. As a result, CRP has suddenly become quite trendy in
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