by Ted Spiker Gamblers, weathermen, and Dionne Warwick aren’t
the only people who try to make a living predicting the future.
Doctors do, too. Just as a gambler might gather stats like Sammy
Sosa’s slugging percentage on Thursday games at home when the
wind is less than 15 mph, a doctor gathers vital information to
try to determine the odds on your health. For years, physicians
focused on basic measures, such as blood pressure, weight, and
cholesterol. But recently, more and more studies have shown that
there’s a new MVP (most valuable predictor) when it comes to
forecasting heart disease. It’s a substance that sounds like a
grunge-rock band: C-reactive protein (CRP). Though it was
discovered in 1930, only in the past several years has CRP been
shown to be important. Doctors now know that CRP helps measure
chronic inflammation and the overall health of your arteries.
The higher your CRP level, the more at risk you may be for heart
disease—even if your other indicators look normal. “Half of all
heart attacks a