Originally measured to determine if there's an infection or inflammatory process in the body, CRP levels are now being used to predict the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack, stroke, colon cancer, osteoarthritis, and, most recently, age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Screened for by standard health check-ups, CRP (C-Reactive Protein), is produced by the liver in response to inflammation, infection and injury. In the body, C-reactive protein plays the important role of interacting with the cells of the immune system. While an active infection or a physical trauma is associated with CRP levels above 10.0/mg/L, they should be 0 under normal conditions. In obese people, however, they are chronically elevated. This is because fat cells produce pro-inflammatory signaling molecules called cytokines that in turn stimulate production of CRP. Another interesting fact is that women have higher levels of CRP than men. There are not many theories regarding why this is so, but a good reason could be that women have more fat tissue than men. While it has been known for a long time that obesity is a state of low-grade chronic inflammation (BMI and CRP levels are positively correlated), scientists are now linking the dots between lifestyle and degenerative diseases.

For example; people with chronic inflammatory bowel disease, especially ulcerative colitis, are at increased risk of developing colorectal cancer. Supporting this idea that inflammation is involved in cancer causation is the finding that people who use anti-inflammatory drugs (aspirin, NSAIDs) for reasons like thinning the blood have a lower colon cancer incidence.

Of course, underlying the inflammatory process that leads to heart disease, cancer and other degenerative diseases is bad dietary choices, obesity, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and sedentary lifestyles. Inflammation, thus, is a marker and predictor of how bad things are.

Aside from obesity, there is another risk factor in inflammation and disease. A study done at Duke University Medical Center in September 2004 and published in the issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine shows that otherwise healthy people who are prone to anger, hostility and mild to moderate depressive symptoms produce higher levels of norepinephrine and in turn CRP.  It was found that the angry and depressed subjects had CRP levels in the range of 1.7 mg/L to 3.0 mg/L - indicative of a moderate to high risk of heart attacks and strokes. 

In conclusion, the cause of aging and disease, although known to us all intuitively and as common knowledge, has now been elucidated with a scientific mechanism. Markers of stress (norepinephrin, cortisol and adrenalin) and obesity (cytokines) both increase inflammation (CRP) and lead to degenerative diseases.

Advice? 

Don’t be overweight. Stay away from processed foods and return to wholesome, organic whole foods. Also, be careful with your thoughts since they have a lot of impact upon your body. Avoid anger and depression. Plus, since exercise lowers inflammation markers and brightens the mood, working out is good for your mental and physical health.