CRP is a highly nonspecific test. Any inflammation in your body will elevate it: a cold, a healing wound, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle tissue damage...

Your level is low enough to be non specific. As far as I know (and I'm not a gastroenterologist) it's not a particularly good test for Crohn's in this day and age.

Deke

I also had a complete set of tests because of family heart history and had the same thing - a high CRP reading. Cardiologist said it could have been from any infection over the previous couple of weeks. He also said it wouldn't be higher due to working out hard, only from the body fighting infection. It was the only thing "out of whack", so he didn't seem too concerned about it.

CRP alone is not good for diagnosing Crohn's, but trends in CRP are helpful in assessing the severity of activity in an individual and in differentiating whether or not symptoms are Crohn's or IBS-like conditions. In the Crohn's world, a level of 5.8 (Normal is less than 5 in our lab) is not much to get excited about.

What I don't know is: what degrees of elevation are significant when the test is used to screen for cardiovascular disease?

Thanks for the info.

Deke, 2nd question on a different topic more specific to your dept. What’s an average recovery time for a stage 3 separation of an AC? I failed to notice the cat crossing sign on a ride Saturday and met Mr. Pavement.

Thanks

Dave

I thought you told the ER nurse it was a mountain lion..

As you probably know, in most people's hands now this injury is treated without surgery - used to be operatively treated. Typically treated with a sling for comfort in the early going and mobilisation to prevent the shoulder from getting stiff. On average, I would say it's sore for 3-6 weeks, but that doesn't mean it has to stay in a sling or be immobilised. There are higher grades of this injury which are usually treated operatively, so it's important to see someone who can make sure it's not one of them.

Good luck with it - watch for the cats.

Deke

Thanks Deke,

I see the trauma specialist in the orthopedic department Thursday morning for an evaluation. The report from the ER said 20 gauge but I don’t know if that is bad. I just figured I would ask you after I read your profile.

JohnA,

I forgot it was a mountain lion. At least 150 lbs with big teeth and a bad attitude. I ran into him to save you and the others and sacrificed my shoulder in the process. The CaliforniaMan bike course is now safe for all.

Dave

There is very good info here:

http://www.foodandhealth.com/...ourses/crp_serum.php

Here is an excerpt:

One problem with hs-CRP is that it varies a lot more than LDL levels when measured repeatedly in the same patient even though they have made no significant change in their diet, exercise level or had changes in medications. Hs-CRP levels can also increase with infections or inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. Studies of apparently healthy people have found hs-CRP levels vary at least 4 to 5 times as much as do LDL levels.[11] Another study found that hs-CRP levels measured repeatedly in the same individual varied on average by 42%. By contrast, the variability in repeated LDL levels is less than 10%.[12] Some of this variability is due to measurement error and some to real variation. If someone with a high risk LDL level of 200 mg/dl were measured a week later the chances are the next reading would be more than 180 mg/dl and less than 220 mg/dl and most of the time between 190mg/dl and 210. All these values suggest a very high risk of atherosclerosis and a much greater risk of a heart attack over time. What if LDL levels varied by 42% on average instead of less than 10%? Then a 200 mg/dl level one day could easily be as low as 120 the next day or week even though no changes were made in diet, lifestyle or medication. Clearly this would not be acceptable for clinical use because 120 mg/dl suggest below average risk and 200 mg/dl level suggests very high risk of CVD. Another problem with using hs-CRP as a marker for successful treatment of atherosclerotic disease is that we have no convincing evidence that simply lowering CRP levels with diet and/or drugs will lead to reduced heart attacks and strokes. We know this is the case if LDL-cholesterol or non-HDL-cholesterol levels are lowered with diet and/or drugs.