Inflammation & the heart.

For years, scientists have seen more heart attacks in people with higher levels of inflammation in their bodies. Now researchers have found that curbing inflammation protects the heart.

In a study of people who were taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, those whose levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) fell below 2 milligrams per liter of blood (mg/L) had a 28 percent lower risk of a heart attack or death from heart disease than those whose CRP levels stayed at 2 mg/L or higher.

Statins like Lipitor and Pravachol lower both LDL ("bad") cholesterol and CRP, a measure of inflammation. In the study, heart attack rates were about 33 percent lower in statin takers whose LDL fell below 70 milligrams per deciliter of blood than in those with higher LDL.

What do to: It's too early to recommend that people with high CRP but low LDL take statins. (The Centers for Disease Control and the American Heart Association recommend that doctors take CRP into account if they are on the fence about whether to prescribe statins.)

But you don't need statins to lower CRP. Losing weight, boosting exercise, and stopping smoking may also curb inflammation.

New England Journal of Medicine 352: 20, 2005.