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Did you know that cholesterol and inflammation are partners in causing heart attacks and strokes? Inflammation is the body’s fight against harmful conditions, but in excess it can cause harm. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with heart disease, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about the role of inflammation in cardiovascular disease and what can be done about it.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States,[1] For people with cardiovascular disease (CV) risk factors, it is critical to know what they can do to prevent serious cardiac events such as heart attack and stroke.
Recent studies have demonstrated that in people already taking cholesterol-lowering statins, residual vascular inflammation is a strong predictor of future cardiovascular events, perhaps even more so than high cholesterol.[2]
Data from numerous peer-reviewed publications confirm that high-risk patients already using statins may benefit from additional anti-inflammatory therapy to further reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke. Approved therapies to date only treat the risk of high cholesterol but do not address residual vascular inflammation. Reducing inflammation may be key to further reducing the risk of heart attack that over 800,000 Americans with cardiovascular disease may face this year.[1]
Why is inflammation so important?
Heart attacks occur when blood flow to the heart is restricted, and strokes occur when blood flow to the brain is restricted. Inflammation plays a key role in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), a condition in which arteries narrow and harden due to a buildup of a substance called plaque, reducing blood flow and causing blood clots, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.[3] Therefore, patients with ASCVD are at increased risk of acute cardiovascular events.[4] Inflammation coexists with high cholesterol to form plaques and contribute to the development and progression of ASCVD.[5]
How to Reduce CV Inflammation
The first step to finding out if inflammation is a risk for you is to get tested. A simple blood test that determines levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), a biomarker of inflammation, in your blood can indicate your risk of heart disease.
If the test reveals that your hs-CRP level is higher than normal, the next step is to lower it. One treatment option is low-dose colchicine 0.5 mg, an anti-inflammatory tablet taken orally once daily that has been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of serious events such as heart attack and stroke.
“We’ve known for years that inflammation causes heart attacks and strokes, and low-dose colchicine 0.5 mg is a major advancement in treating patients with cardiovascular inflammation,” said Philip Nimoytin, MD, FACC, clinical cardiologist at Jefferson’s Philadelphia Cardiac Consultants and attending physician at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. “Potentially saving millions of lives, low-dose colchicine 0.5 mg has been proven to reduce the risk of cardiac events, such as heart attack and stroke, by 31% in patients with existing cardiovascular disease.”
If you’ve been diagnosed with ASCVD or have multiple risk factors for ASCVD, you may be suffering from untreated CV inflammation. To reduce this harmful inflammation and lower your risk of heart attack or stroke, talk to your doctor about testing for hs-CRP and newer anti-inflammatory treatment options, such as low-dose colchicine 0.5 mg.
To learn more about heart health risks and steps you can take to support yourself, visit CVDInflammation.com.
[1] Facts about Heart Disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published May 15, 2024. Accessed June 20, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html.
[2] Ridker PM, Bhatt DL, Pradhan AD, et al. “Inflammation and cholesterol as predictors of cardiovascular events in patients receiving statin therapy: a joint analysis of three randomized trials.” Lancet (London, UK). 2023;401(10384):1293-1301. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00215-5
[3] What is Atherosclerosis? American Heart Association. Published April 3, 2023. Accessed June 20, 2024. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/about-cholesterol/atherosclerosis.
[4] Trier van, Marjolein Snaterse, Hageman SHJ, et al. Untapped potential of risk factor treatment in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Published online February 9, 2023. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad038
[5] Libby P, Ridker PM, Hansson GK. Progress and challenges in interpreting the biology of atherosclerosis. Nature. 2011;473(7347):317-25. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10146
