Inflammation and heart disease
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Over the last couple of months there have been papers that reinforce evidence that heart researchers have had for years - that inflammation plays an important role in heart disease.
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Over the last couple of months there have been papers that reinforce evidence that heart researchers have had for years - that inflammation plays an important role in heart disease.
Over the last couple of months there have been papers that reinforce evidence that heart researchers have had for years - that inflammation plays an important role in heart disease.
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Over the last couple of months there have been papers that reinforce evidence that heart researchers have had for years - that inflammation plays an important role in heart disease.
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There are a few lines of evidence. One is that people with immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus have a raised risk of heart attacks. It's also known that white blood cells and immunological hormones assist cholesterol damage in arteries.
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There are a few lines of evidence. One is that people with immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus have a raised risk of heart attacks. It's also known that white blood cells and immunological hormones assist cholesterol damage in arteries.
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And it's also known that statins - cholesterol-lowering medications - reduce the risk of heart attacks more than you'd expect from their cholesterol reduction, and they have immune effects.
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Summarising the findings from the three recent papers, they suggest that while cholesterol lowering is still vital, reducing inflammation - the immune reaction in arteries - is important too.
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In one study of people on statins, the lower the inflammation, the lower the heart attack risk.
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In another study of people on a statin, the lower the bad form of cholesterol and inflammation, the slower artery blockage progressed.
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And a third study of markers of inflammation showed an association with the risk of heart disease.
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Some lifestyle changes may help lower inflammation, like exercise and diet if you don't like fancy medications, but that's yet to be proven conclusively.
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For Reference
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Title: New England Journal of MedicineAuthor: Nissen S et al, Statin therapy, LDL cholesterol, C-reactive protein and coronary heart disease.URL: http://content.nejm.org/2005, vol 352, pp 29-38.
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Title: New England Journal of MedicineAuthor: Nissen S et al, Statin therapy, LDL cholesterol, C-reactive protein and coronary heart disease.URL: http://content.nejm.org/2005, vol 352, pp 29-38.
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Title: New England Journal of MedicineAuthor: Ridker PM et al, C-reactive protein levels and outcomes after statin therapy. URL: http://content.nejm.org/2005, vol 352, pp 20-28.
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Title: New England Journal of MedicineAuthor: Ehrenstein MR et al, Statins for atherosclerosis - a good as it gets?URL: http://content.nejm.org/2005, vol 352, pp 73-75.
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Title: New England Journal of MedicineAuthor: Pai J et al, Inflammatory markers and the risk of coronary heart disease in men and women.URL: http://content.nejm.org/2004, vol 351, 2599-2610.
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http://www.abc.net.au/health/minutes/stories/2005/01/27/1290235.htm
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