Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Test

Definition

The high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) test is a blood assay used to estimate an individual's risk for heart disease and stroke. The test also measures the presence of inflammation or infection.

Origins

In the late twentieth century, the primary methods of measuring a person's risk of heart disease included traditional factors such as age, family history of heart disease or stroke, past heart disease, smoking, obesity, and tests that measured lipids in the bloodstream, including lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL). Low-density lipoproteins ("bad" cholesterol) were previously considered the gold standard in risk factor prediction.

In the 1990s and early...