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Article: Study questions test in prediction of heart attacks
- Article from:
- Daily Breeze
- Article date:
- April 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2004 Daily Breeze. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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A large new study casts doubt on one of the hottest ideas in the
field of heart disease -- that inflammation levels in the bloodstream
are a powerful predictor of heart attacks.
The report in today's New England Journal of Medicine questions
the value of a blood test already routinely used by some doctors to
measure inflammation. And it challenges year-old recommendations from
the U.S. government that doctors consider the test for some patients.
The researchers said their findings suggest that inflammation is
only a moderate predictor of heart disease, less than some studies
have indicated. They concluded that the test does not add much beyond
other risk factors.
"There's no good scientific ...