Korean J Obes.  2006 Jun;15(2):81-90.

C-Reactive Protein and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

• Cho YG
• Kang JH

Abstract

Recently in Korea, both morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease are increasing due to aging and westernized lifestyle. Traditional risk factors of cardio- vascular disease are unable to distinguish all of the people who are at high-risk of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the search for new risk factors of cardiovascular disease continue. It has been proven that Inflammation plays a pivotal role in pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and that C-reactive protein (CRP) participates directly in the process of atherosclerosis. Therefore, CRP has been considered to be a novel risk factor of cardiovascular disease. Many of epidemiologic studies have shown that elevated CRP level predicts cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction, stroke and sudden cardiac death in healthy persons. Elevated CRP level also predicts recurrence of cardiovascular disease and death in persons with cardiovascular disease. In 2003, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/American Heart Association (CDC/AHA) announced that CRP screening is useful to evaluate risk and prognosis of cardiovascular disease. However, results of foreign studies are difficult to apply directly to Korean population since most of these studies involved Caucasians and Korean epidemiologic data is rare. In order to recommend CRP screening for predicting risk and prognosis of cardiovascular disease in Korea, studies concerning CRP screening must be progressed actively in Korea. It is proposed that Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) include the measurement of CRP and that the Korean government support studies on the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of CRP screening.

Keyword

C-reactive protein (CRP); Cardiovascular disease; Inflammation; Biochemical marker; Coronary artery Disease; Atherosclerosis

MeSH Terms

Aging
Atherosclerosis
Biomarkers
C-Reactive Protein*
Cardiovascular Diseases*
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
Coronary Artery Disease
Death, Sudden, Cardiac
Heart
Humans
Inflammation
Korea
Life Style
Mass Screening
Mortality
Myocardial Infarction
Nutrition Surveys
Prognosis
Recurrence
Risk Factors
Stroke
Vascular Diseases
C-Reactive Protein