HOUSTON, June 23 -- In older patients at risk of vascular disease, biomarkers of inflammation can warn of an increased risk of fatal versus nonfatal clinical events, according to a multicenter European study.
In particular, elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) had strong associations with fatal events, Naveed Sattar, MD, PhD, of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and colleagues reported online in PLoS Medicine.
The findings have implications for clinical management and for understanding the etiology of fatal cardiovascular disease, the authors concluded.
"Our key observation of a stronger link of inflammatory markers with fatal CVD compared with nonfatal CVD significantly extends suggestive (but inconclusive) observations from previous reports . . . of potentially stronger associations between inflammatory markers with CVD death," they said.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/CoronaryArteryDisease/14824It seems that there are more and more articles that point out the role inflammation, regardless its source, plays in overall well-being.