Inflammation and Heart Disease
For some time there has been strong evidence that inflammation contributes to heart disease. Chronic inflammation increases the chance of developing fatty plaques in your coronary arteries, and it can cause these plaques to rupture resulting in a heart attack.
Doctors often order a test called C-reactive protein (or CRP). Elevated CRP is a sign of inflammation and puts you at increased risk of developing heart disease. Most labs consider CRP less than 3 mg/L normal, but some experts are now recommending that it be even lower. I’ve had patients that developed severe heart disease and their only risk factor was an elevated CRP. So if you haven’t had this checked—please get it done!
Unfortunately, many doctors don’t know how to reduce the inflammation that causes the increased CRP. While the cholesterol lowering agents called statins lower CRP, there are many patients that want to avoid the side-effects and expense of these drugs. And while aspirin decreases your risk of a heart attack by reducing the risk of clots, it does not appear to affect CRP.
Here are some natural approaches for lowering your CRP, and hopefully avoid heart problems:
- Exercise and eat right. Hey, you should do this anyways! However, living a healthy lifestyle is associated with a lower CRP, especially if you avoid saturated fats (meat, dairy products, etc.) and eat lots of fruits and vegetables.
- Increase your fiber intake. At least one study showed that eating large amounts of fiber (30 grams per day) can help lower your CRP. It also lowers cholesterol and reduces your risk of colon cancer.
- Take your vitamins, especially vitamin C which can reduce your CRP by 24%. I recommend 500 mg twice a day of sustained-release vitamin C. Vitamin E is helpful and it appears that eating fish or taking omega-3 fatty acids work as well.
- Red yeast rice (600 mg twice a day) has been shown to decrease CRP, and because it is a natural statin, it usually reduces your cholesterol (while this doesn’t work for everyone, I almost always recommend red yeast rice, along with dietary changes, before starting on a statin drug).
- Curcumin, found in the spice turmeric (an essential component of curry), has a variety of health benefits, including reducing inflammation. Boswellia is an herb used to treat inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and Crohn’s disease and could potentially lower your CRP as well. These products can be purchased in health food stores as supplements.
- STOP SMOKING! Smokers typically have high CRPs. If the risk of a heart attack doesn’t scare you enough to quit, consider the unpleasant prospect of developing cancer or lung disease.
There are many things you can do to prevent heart disease. Taking these steps can lower your C-reactive protein and may add years to your life.
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Pierre Angier, D.O. is the medical director of GET WELL in St. Augustine, Florida. He is board-certified in Family Practice and is also certified in chelation therapy through the American Academy for the Advancement of Medicine.
For more information visit WWW.GETWELLFL.COM or call 904-217-7030.
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