C-reactive Protein (CRP) was discovered in 1930 but its importance has been understood only in the past few years. Its now known to be the most valuable predictor (MVP) when it comes to heart disease. Doctors now know that CRP is a marker that helps measure chronic inflammation and the overall health of your arteries.  There is ample evidence to prove that people with high levels of CRP are at a higher risk of heart diseases even if the other indicators look normal. Each year more than fifty percent of Heart attacks and Strokes occur among people with essentially normal cholesterol levels. There's more to heart disease than just lipids. In addition to the problem of cholesterol, there's the problem of the immune system or the inflammation response. A heart attack occurs when plaque ruptures inside the coronary arteries. But that rupturing hinges not just on the plaque but also on the degree of inflammation. A simple test can help detect this condition so that you can predict whether you are in the red. Luckily, just as you can control your cholesterol and body fat, you can take steps to shrink your CRP. Consult your doctor on advice to control CRP. Powered by ScribeFire.

Its been quite some time since I updated the blog...I have been traveling a lot recently. I have pasted an article below taken from www.tctmd.com about the safety of the Endeavour coronary stent. The details were presented at the TCT conference held in Washington D.C.  It means a lot to patients who would have undergone angioplasty with this stent. SORT-OUT III: Higher TLR with Endeavor By TCT Daily Staff In early results from the SORT-OUT III trial, patients with CAD implanted with an Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent had significantly higher rates of restenosis, TLR, MI, and definite stent thrombosis than patients who received a Cypher sirolimus-eluting stent, according to Jens Flensted Lassen, MD, of Skejby Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark. This is the first large-scale, SORT OUT Figure 1 Frirandomized head-to-head trial of Endeavor vs. Cypher; 2,333 patients were included. The primary safety endpoints of this all-comers study were all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, MI, and definite stent thrombosis (using the ARC definition) at nine months. Efficacy endpoints were clinically-driven TLR and clinically significant restenosis for the same period. At follow-up, patients in the Endeavor group had experienced significantly higher rates of restenosis (HR 6.59, 95% CI, 2.57-16.9; P<.0001) and TLR (see Figure 1) as well as MI (HR 3.47, 95% CI, 1.14-10.5; P=.03). Definite stent thrombosis also was more frequent in the Endeavor arm (see Figure 2). There was no significant difference in cardiac mortality (HR 2.17, 95% CI, 0.75-6.24; P=.14) between the two groups. Follow-up did not rely on control angiography or study-related patient contact but instead on patient-driven clinical events available through the comprehensive network of Danish registries and databases. Endeavor patients were more likely to have had prior PCI. Lesion characteristics in both SORT OUT Figure 2 Friarms were comparable. About half of the patients in each group had stable angina; approximately 38% in each group had NSTEMI or unstable angina. Results may represent a true biologic finding David J. Cohen, MD, of Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo., said the trial’s major strength is the lack of routine angiographic follow-up, eliminating potential bias from the so-called occulostenotic reflex. "SORT-OUT III is the first [study] to demonstrate the association between higher late loss and more frequent clinical restenosis in a real-world population," he said. The difference in outcomes between Endeavor and Cypher could be attributable to unreasonably low rates of stent thrombosis in the Cypher group, Cohen said, adding that the two types of stents could also have been applied differently because of a perceived safety advantage with Endeavor. On the other hand, one-year data from Endeavor IV showed similar stent thrombosis results, suggesting that the current finding may be real. This may well be a true biologic finding, Cohen said. The purported safety advantage of the Endeavor stent has been based on the virtual absence of late stent thrombosis after one year, well beyond the time frame of this study. This result implies that the biology of subacute and late thrombosis may differ from that of very late stent thrombosis. Disclosures: * Dr. Lassen reports serving on the advisory boards of Cordis Corporation and Medtronic. * Dr. Cohen reports receiving research support from Cordis Corporation and Boston Scientific. Powered by ScribeFire.

I, like millions of others, used to suffer from backaches. I had lumbar spondylolysis and like a lot of others ended up on a surgeons table. The surgeon excised two culprit discs. Three months down and I was back on my feet. Its been 5 years since my surgery and I feel perfectly fine. I run, exercise and even do some yoga. I avoid lifting weights though. I do get the occasional stiff back but I just allow it passover by taking rest for a day or two and then resume normal activities as soon as possible. At times a walk also helps me tide over any symptoms of a relapse. What I want to share with you is quite simple. Its time we paid more attention to our body. Rather than just wanting to look our best at all times its far more important to feel good with our body most of the time. When I had my back problem I ignored it. The problem aggravated but I lived in denial. So much so that in the end conventional therapy failed to relieve me of my pain. By 'pain', I mean severe pain. I felt crippled and helpless. I had no other option but to opt for surgery. A compromise that can prove expensive anytime. I have been lucky so far. I have come across many for whom even surgery has proven futile. When we feel discomfort in any part of our body we should pay attention to it. Understand what its trying to tell us. Learn from the pain and in the process get rid of it. That would help prevent a lot of our problems and I mean it. For those of you suffering from chronic back ache, I would recommend an ayurvedic massage. Powered by ScribeFire.