ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997 TAG: 9704030051
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BOSTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A new study found that after several years of this low-level inflammation, men are three times as likely to suffer heart attacks and twice as likely to have strokes. The inflammation is so subtle that it shows up only on blood tests, and seemingly normal levels may be hazardous.
Earlier studies have found signs of this inflammation at the time of a heart attack. The new work is the first to show that it simmers away while men are still outwardly healthy, apparently contributing insidiously to clogged arteries.
Why this micro-inflammation, as doctors call it, happens is still a mystery. However, a leading theory is that chronic infection with common germs might be the cause.
If so, the study raises the possibility that antibiotics and vaccines, along with stronger anti-inflammatory drugs, might someday be added to the medicines routinely used to treat heart disease.
The new research also helps explain why aspirin is so good for the heart. For years, experts thought aspirin's main benefit was its interference with blood clotting. But the new study suggests it also works by fighting inflammation inside the blood vessels.
Heart attacks strike when fatty deposits build up in the arteries. When one of the deposits, called plaque, suddenly breaks open, blood clots form and choke off the supply of blood to the heart muscle. While too much cholesterol in the bloodstream clearly is a major underlying cause of heart trouble, doctors have long suspected other factors must also be at play.
``The ability of doctors to predict who is at risk of cardiovascular disease has come a long way. But about half of those who get heart attacks or strokes have normal cholesterol levels,'' noted Dr. Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
The theory is this: An infection attracts disease-fighting white blood cells, called monocytes, to the blood vessel walls. These, in turn, release chemicals that can stimulate growth of smooth muscle cells and contribute to development of clogging deposits.
LENGTH: Short : 47 linesby CNB