Simple Blood Tests for Better Health
Homocysteine is a toxic amino acid that can damage the linings of your arteries and considerably increase your risk for heart attack and stroke. It is an independent risk factor, meaning that even if there are no other signs or symptoms, this silent attack on your arteries can be hurting you. If high blood pressure is present, the danger from homocysteine is even greater.
What causes it to be high? A detoxification process called methylation isn’t working properly.
If your homocysteine level is more than 15 umol/L, your risk is significantly greater than if it is less than 9. Many experts recommend levels less than 9 for better health.
According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl J Med. 2002 Feb 14;346(7):476-83), elevated homocysteine was found to be a strong independent risk factor for development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a special protein that is formed when there is inflammation in the body. High levels are seen when you have a cold or the flu or if you have arthritis, but in the last few years, research has shown that small but significant amounts are related to heart disease. Why is this? Because atherosclerosis, the disease related to plaque formation in the arteries, is an inflammatory process.
The bottom line is that if CRP is elevated, it should be reduced, preferably to less than 1mg/L.
CRP is a general marker of inflammation. A new test is now available that is specific for inflammation caused by the formation of plaque in the arteries. Called the PLAC® test, it may be used in addition to CRP to help identify cardiovascular risk.
Fibrinogen is a protein in the blood that relates to clot formation; some of it is good and necessary. Simply put, the more fibrinogen in your blood, the greater the risk of forming a clot. Increased levels are highly associated with risk for heart attack and stroke.
What levels do we associate with better health? Less than 300mg/dL is a good place to be. Keep in mind we need some fibrinogen to stop and prevent bleeding.
Homocysteine, CRP, and fibrinogen provide significant information about your cardiovascular risk. Although other risk factors may get more attention, identifying and resolving problems in these three areas is a major step forward in your quest for better health. Testing is relatively inexpensive, too.
About Laboratory Reference Ranges: While it is certainly better to have values within the ranges rather than outside, many who are interested in improved health and reduced risk strive to attain values more favorable to optimal health. Research has demonstrated the possibility of significant risk even within the reference ranges for homocysteine, CRP, and fibrinogen. Reference ranges are often a compromise to provide both guidance for monitoring disease and general health care. Your doctor may therefore make suggestions for bringing “normal” values into the optimal range.
Vitamin D In years past there was concern that people were getting too much vitamin D rather than not enough, but new research shows very high rates of deficiency, prompting remarkable changes in thinking on how much is needed for good health. The laboratory reference range was dramatically raised from 7-46 ng/mL to 32-100 ng/mL and many experts now believe a level of 40 is the minimum acceptable level for good health.
Deficiencies are linked to a multitude of health problems, including osteoporosis, bone and muscle pain, and lack of emotional wellbeing and certain cancers may also be related to deficiency. The Mayo Clinic performed research on 150 patients with chronic nonspecific musculoskeletal pain and found virtually all to be deficient in vitamin D (93% using the old reference ranges) (Mayo Clinic Proc. 2003 Dec;78(12):1463-70).
Deficiency is easily identified with a blood test, and correctable with quality supplements.
