C-Reactive Protein and Cardiovascular Disease, edited by Drs Paul Ridker and Nader Rifai from the Harvard Medical School, and foreworded by Dr. Eugene Braunwald is the first comprehensive review of inflammation, heart disease, and the clinical application of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) to daily practice.

 

"C-Reactive Protein and Cardiovascular Disease", edited by Drs Paul Ridker and Nader Rifai from the Harvard Medical School, is the first comprehensive review of inflammation, heart disease, and the clinical application of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) to daily practice.

Multiple studies now show hsCRP to be a powerful predictor of future cardiovascular events even when cholesterol levels are low, a crucial issue for clinicians and patients as half of all heart attacks and strokes occur among apparently healthy men and women without hyperlipidemia. In this new book, evidence gained over the past decade that has transitioned hsCRP from a research tool into broad clinical use is reviewed in detail, including overviews of both inflammation and hsCRP in primary prevention, acute ischemia, and the targeting of multiple therapeutic interventions. Also addressed are up-to-date findings evaluating environmental and genetic determinants of hsCRP, pharmacologic trials addressing the potential for CRP reduction, and issues related to the laboratory evaluation of hsCRP and its formal use in modern global prediction models designed to detect high risk for cardiovascular disease.

While targeted to physicians involved in primary care, general internal medicine, and cardiology who are committed to heart disease treatment and prevention, "C-Reactive Protein and Cardiovascular Disease" will also be of interest to those concerned with the diagnosis, prevention, and pathogenesis of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and heart failure, all of which are now understood to have important inflammatory components.

"Measuring CRP can markedly improve cardiovascular risk prediction and our understanding of the epidemic of atherosclerotic disease"
Roger Blumenthal, MD
Director, Preventive Cardiology
The Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease

"The fundamental role of inflammation in atherosclerosis and of CRP in risk assessment has revolutionized cardiology and should motivate all physicians to be much more aggressive in primary and secondary prevention"
Howard Weinstein, MD
Clinical Director
New York University Lipid Center

"The extraordinary links between CRP, coronary disease, stroke, heart failure, hypertension, and diabetes demonstrate the crucial role of inflammation in medicine today. Ridker and Rifai's textbook provides the first complete overview of CRP physiology and factors affecting its levels. This is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in heart disease prevention and treatment"
Ernst Schaefer, MD
Distinguished University Professor, Tufts School of Medicine
Editor, Atherosclerosis