Bloodstream inflammation could predict heart disease

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Two new studies add to the rapidly growing body of evidence that inflammation in the bloodstream can be a powerful predictor of heart disease.

The findings, appearing in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association, could help explain why people with no known risk factors such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure can still have heart attacks.

One study found that levels of an enzyme called MPO were elevated in people who had had heart attacks, heart bypass surgery and narrowed coronary arteries. The other study linked a different substance, interleukin 6, to an increased risk of death in heart patients. Both substances are associated with inflammation.

In recent years, doctors have come to suspect that smoldering inflammation — whether triggered by an infection or some other condition — can damage the walls of heart arteries, making them more prone to the fatty buildups that can lead to heart attacks.

One of the two studies found that patients with the highest levels of MPO, or myeloperoxidase, which is normally found in infection-fighting white blood cells, had a twentyfold greater risk of heart disease than those with the lowest levels.

High levels were even found in people with no significant heart disease and with no risk factors such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Cleveland Clinic researchers said that may help explain why heart attacks frequently occur in people previously thought to be healthy.

"What is most exciting is that this marker appears to be significantly better at predicting risk for atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, than blood tests now used," including cholesterol tests, said Dr. Stanley Hazen, who coordinated the research.

It is uncertain what caused the elevated MPO levels in some of the 333 patients studied, though Hazen said he suspects a genetic flaw.

In other health news Tuesday:

  • A combination of gene mutations and disease among close relatives can put women at a very high risk of developing breast cancer, but a Mayo Clinic study shows the risk drops nearly to zero if both breasts are surgically, and more carefully, removed.

    The study was conducted because even a careful mastectomy does not remove all the cells that can lead to breast cancer in high-risk women, the researchers said.

    The study, appearing today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, involved a rare group of women — those who had close female relatives with breast cancer and who also had a mutation in one of two genes, BRCA1 or BRCA2, that have been linked to breast cancer.

    For the women in the study, the lifetime risk was of breast cancer was 55 to 85 percent. With the surgery, however, researchers estimated their risk of breast cancer was reduced by 89.5 to 100 percent.

  • Hormones taken by millions of women at menopause can increase the risk of dry eye syndrome, which in severe cases can affect vision, a study found.

    In the study of women 49 and older, those taking estrogen alone were about 70 percent more likely to have the syndrome than women not using the supplements. Women taking both estrogen and progesterone faced a 30 percent increased risk.

    The findings appear in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

  • New research bolsters the idea that brain scans can help determine whether mild memory lapses are early signs of Alzheimer’s.

    In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers looked at 284 patients with mild memory lapses and behavior changes. They were followed for two to nine years; 138 died during the study and underwent autopsies.

    About half of all the patients developed full-blown Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, and PET scans detected early signs at least 93 percent of the time, said Dr. Daniel Silverman, an assistant pharmacology professor at the University of California at Los Angeles.

    Silverman said the findings show the scans could help lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment for Alzheimer’s.

    The findings appear in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

    Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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