Test for inflammation
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 5:08 pm
AC--you wrote about a test for inflammation:
There is another nonspecific test for general inflammation in the body: the C-Reactive Protein (C-RP) test. It is thought by many to be a better indicator of heart disease risk than a cholesterol test. I think I recall that about half of those who have heart attacks do not have high cholesterol. It is thought these people have a high C-RP. (My father-in-law has never had high cholesterol in his life! But had a heart attack at age 60; he is 88 now. He has never had a C-RP test.)
There is another called the"high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein test (hs C-RP);" it is more attuned to vascular inflammation as in vasculitis (I suspected this, but, once again, the results were normal.)
I still suspect my hyperinsulinemia has damaged my blood vessels, accounting for "prickly" feeling in my feet, legs, and fingertips!
I am not a physician and I don't know much about these tests; there may be many with similar names. I have had a "Sed Rate Test" and it was normal, perfectly fine--not high at all. (I know the test is usually given to people suspected to have rheumatoid arthritis--RA. They certainly have inflammation and high sed rates!)The name of the blood test Jeff has is an ESR, Erythrocyte sedimentation rate. His GP ordered it because of all his weird petechiae and bruises....she was ruling out leukemia and vasculitis, which were negative, but this test keeps coming back high. It is a non-specific test, and all it does is show inflammation. I'll bet the bank that all MS patients have high Sed rates on this test.
There is another nonspecific test for general inflammation in the body: the C-Reactive Protein (C-RP) test. It is thought by many to be a better indicator of heart disease risk than a cholesterol test. I think I recall that about half of those who have heart attacks do not have high cholesterol. It is thought these people have a high C-RP. (My father-in-law has never had high cholesterol in his life! But had a heart attack at age 60; he is 88 now. He has never had a C-RP test.)
There is another called the"high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein test (hs C-RP);" it is more attuned to vascular inflammation as in vasculitis (I suspected this, but, once again, the results were normal.)
I still suspect my hyperinsulinemia has damaged my blood vessels, accounting for "prickly" feeling in my feet, legs, and fingertips!