Is Chronic Inflammation the Cause of Heart Disease?

Here is current research that confirms the real cause of heart attacks and strokes is chronic inflammation. Inflammation is the bodies first defense against infection, but chronic inflammation can lead to serious disease and even death. It is a warning that something is seriously out of balance with your health.

Low-grade chronic inflammation anywhere in the body is a fundamental cause of cardiovascular disease. The inflammation leads to a weakening and rupture of arterial plaques, which in turn causes heart attacks and strokes. Perhaps this is the reason the incidence of heart disease is not going down, it’s actually increasing.

Doctors are focusing on cholesterol which is important, but, the inflammation in the body is just as important or more so, and it’s not getting the attention it should. If you have one inflammatory condition, your odds of developing another go up significantly. For example, researchers have discovered that if you’re a woman with rheumatoid arthritis, your risk of having a heart attack, increases 100 percent. More than half of the people who have heart attacks and strokes have normal cholesterol levels. However, surgeons are finding they do have inflammation.

There is a test you can have performed at your doctors office to find out if you have chronic inflammation. Ask your doctor for a C-reactive protein test (CRP). C-reactive protein is a solid indicator for disease potential. Research shows that chronic Inflammation increases the level of C-reactive protein CRP in the blood. As such, the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC jointly recommend using inflammatory markers such as CRP to assess heart disease and stroke risk. High C-reactive protein levels may also alert you to the potential for many other diseases, not just cardiovascular disease.