The sudden loss of newsman Tim Russert to a massive heart attack caused many of us to wonder what the heck is going on. It was widely reported that he had passed a heart stress test just a couple of months prior to his passing. His cholesterol was being controlled by statin drugs and his blood pressure was also being controlled by prescription. His cholesterol was in the “normal” or “good” range. So, how does someone with a good cholesterol level and controlled blood pressure die of a sudden heart attack? Obviously, cholesterol and blood pressure control are not the only risk factors for the development of this deadly disease. There are a number of other risk factors, of which, we are going to talk about one that is going to become more important than cholesterol in the years to come. You are going to be way ahead of the curve when you get your levels checked.

Before I talk about this risk factor, I want to speculate about some other potential causes for Tim Russert’s sudden death. NOTICE: This is my speculation! Please do not repeat this as fact. It is meant to be food for thought.

A couple of reports I read suggested that Tim Russert had been diagnosed with diabetes. If true, I wonder if he had been prescribed a diabetic drug. Those of you familiar with my work know that I have written a couple of articles concerning the diabetic drugs Avandia and Actos. These two prescription drugs now carry a FDA Black Box Warning because they can cause sudden heart attacks! Another question I have is whether he was taking any anti-inflammatory drugs like Celebrex, ibuprofen, or aspirin. This class of drugs can also increase the risk of sudden heart attacks. Vioxx and Bextra, the sister drugs to Celebrex, are now off the market thanks to this sudden heart attack/stroke side-effect. Your food for thought is to consider the very real possibility that Tim Russert died as another casualty of the pharmaceutical industry.

Now, back to the heart attack risk factor that is the subject of this article. It is called hsCRP (highly sensitive C-Reactive Protein). It is also known as CardioCRP on blood tests. Basically, hsCRP is a protein complex that gives information about the level of inflammation in your body. The more inflammation you have in your body the higher risk you have for heart disease. Thus, a higher level of hsCRP indicates higher inflammation which correlates with high risk for heart disease.

A number of recent studies have shown that hsCRP is an important and independent risk factor for the development of heart disease. In fact, one study showed that any benefit of lowering LDL “bad cholesterol” was lost when hsCRP was measured at higher levels. (Cardiovascular event-free survival based on combined hs-CRP and LDL cholesterol measurements. Adapted from Ridker et al (N Engl J Med 2002;347:1557–1565) In other words, you can achieve a lower cholesterol level and still have high risk for heart disease if you have a high hsCRP level.

The real problem is that your doctor may not be testing for hsCRP/CardioCRP. The reason is because if it shows up as high, they do not know what to do. I typically find that doctors downplay or ignore high levels of hsCRP and I know the reason why. I will share this with you in just a moment. Before doing so, let me give you a real-life example from one of my patients.

This patient had blood work completed with the following results:

Take a look at this patient’s cholesterol levels and ratios. They ROCK! Her doctor was very happy with her cholesterol results but then totally ignored that her hsCRP level was dangerously elevated! Why in the world would her doctor not address this finding? This is especially relevant since 50% of the people who die of heart disease have NORMAL to LOW cholesterol levels! Just like this patient.

I will now reveal to you why I believe doctors either ignore or downplay hsCRP findings. Let me illustrate the reason why by asking you a question. What prescription drug can a doctor give their patient to effectively lower hsCRP? The answer is NONE! Since there is no drug, your doctor really has nothing to offer you in trying to lower your hsCRP. So, instead they ignore the levels or tell you that, “We will monitor these levels.” In other words, let’s do nothing until you get a heart attack. Then, we have drugs to give for that condition. Kind of cynical on my part, huh? Someone please enlighten me with another reason as to why doctors would ignore these levels. I am all ears.

I want to make it clear that I am not condemning all doctors. I work with a number of medical doctors who measure hsCRP and then urge their patients to follow up with our office to learn about lowering these levels. These are doctors who realize that medicine is not always the only answer. I have high respect for these doctors because they are not practicing “lazy” medicine.

If you think that I am over-emphasizing the importance of hsCRP, take a look at the recent cover story from TIME magazine. This is a great article to read to learn more about hsCRP. One quote from the article which I agree with 100% is, “In the last decade, people talked about their cholesterol levels," Dr. Cannon says. "In the next decade, the cocktail chatter will be, 'What's your C-reactive protein?' Everyone will need to know that."

The Bottom Line:

Have your levels of hsCRP checked at your next doctor visit or check to see if a high level of hsCRP was ignored on your last blood test. If your levels are high, you need to take action now to lower these levels. Strongly consider making an appointment for a nutritional consultation with me. You can learn more about this option at:

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