Check for inflammation with a high sensitivity CRP blood test.
1 biomarker as listed by Selph.
High sensitivity CRP is a marker of inflammation in your body. You can use a high senstivity CRP blood test to pick up even low levels of inflammation which are a risk-factor for heart disease.
Our CRP Blood Test is a simple finger-prick test you can take at home and send to our NHS-testing lab for analysis. You'll receive a doctor's report with your CRP level and an explanation of what it means for your health.
High sensitivity CRP is a marker of inflammation in your body. In particular, a high sensitivity CRP test can pick up even the lowest levels of inflammation - so-called "chronic low-grade inflammation" - which can be caused by smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and potentially even diet. High sensitivity CRP is often used as a marker of heart disease risk.
CRP or C-reactive protein is a protein produced by the liver in response to inflammation. We can measure the level of CRP in the blood to determine if there's inflammation in the body.
A high CRP level can indicate inflammation in the body. This can have a number of causes including:
Inerpretation of CRP level depends on the context. For example, when we're looking for chronic, low-grade infalmmation then a CRP over 1mg/L is high. But if we're looking at CRP in someone with an acute infection, such as in appendicitis, then a CRP over 10mg/L is considered high and it can easily go over 100mg/L.
If you're otherwise well, with no sign of infection or injury (not even a cold!), then your CRP level should be less than 1mg/L. If it's higher than this, then it's worth investigating further.
Heart disease is caused by narrowing of the blood vessels in the heart - a process called atherosclerosis. Athoerosclerosis involves inflammation in the walls of blood vessels. Furthremore, a number of factors that increase heart disease risk, also increase CRP levels such as obesity, high blood pressure and smoking. So, studies have shown that high CRP levels are associated with an increased risk of heart disease.
In terms of heart disease risk, we interpret CRP levels as follows:
CRP Level (mg/L) Heart disease risk < 1> Low 1 - 2 Average > 2 HighHowever, when it comes to heart disease, CRP is only part of the picture. Other factors such as family history and cholesterol levels are also crucial in determining your risk. This means that you can't rely on CRP alone to determine your heart disease risk.
Description provided by Selph.
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