Association between obesity and c reactive protein among patients with risk factors for cardiovascular disease

One of the main markers of inflammation is C reactive protein, which is normally raised in patients with myocardial infarction, vascular diseases, stroke or sudden cardiac death. Obesity is associated with a raised CRP level probably due to the cytokine stimulation by the adipose tissues. Elevated CRP with an addition of overweight / obesity is a risk factor for cardiac disorders. Demographic details were taken from 371 patients with cardiovascular risk factors and blood was sent for CRP and lipid profile. Height and weight were noted for the calculation of BMI. The mean age of the males was 48.37± 8.92 years and of the females the same was 45.72 ± 6.23 years, the male to female ratio was 2.1:1. 38.8% of the people were under normal weight, 39% were overweight and 22.1% were obese. A majority of the overweight patients (61.4%) had elevated CRP levels, and 10.3% had clinically raised CRP levels. Amongst the obese patients, 43.9% had clinically raised CRP levels while 35.4% had elevated CRP levels. The is a strong association between the increase in weight among the patients and elevated CRP levels Both these two are not only the risk factors of CVD, but also the cause of depression and reduced quality of life among the individuals.