Test’s use to predict heart ills challenged

A new study casts doubt on one of the hottest ideas in the field of heart disease — that inflammation levels in the bloodstream are a powerful predictor of heart attacks.

A new study casts doubt on one of the hottest ideas in the field of heart disease — that inflammation levels in the bloodstream are a powerful predictor of heart attacks.The report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine questions the value of a blood test already routinely used by some doctors to measure inflammation. And it challenges year-old recommendations from the U.S. government that doctors consider the test for some patients.The British researchers at the University of Cambridge said their findings suggest inflammation is only a moderate predictor of heart disease, less than some studies have indicated.But a key U.S. researcher in the field contends that the findings are not all that different from other studies that support the test.”My concern is that even in the face of overwhelming evidence that this inexpensive blood test works, we are at risk of moving backward rather than forward,” said Dr. Paul Ridker of Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.Doctors can screen for low-level inflammation in the bloodstream by testing for C-reactive protein, which fights infection. The painless inflammation can come from minor infections or irritations somewhere in the body.Many experts believe chronic inflammation can weaken the walls of arteries, causing fatty buildups to rupture and trigger heart attacks.Guidelines last year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Heart Association don’t support testing for everyone. They offer the option of testing those judged to be at 10 percent to 20 percent risk of heart disease, based on such factors as age, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Since then, many doctors have begun routinely screening patients for C-reactive protein.(Source: Associated Press: Stephanie Nano: April 2004)