Dr. IV explains high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) blood tests

Kathryn: Hi, I’m Kathryn from Texas. My question is about high sensitivity C-reactive protein. Can you explain?

I’m at 1.1mg/L. That’s an average risk. I will see a doctor next week. Can you explain more about this? Thank you!

Dr. IV Mirus: Hi Kathryn! Good question! Visualize this about the C-reactive protein. It is a blood test that we can order to measure the CRP. (CRP is an acronym)

So, the CRP in your blood… What is CRP? Okay. Visualize that your body is like a city. You’ve got streets like blood vessels. You’ve got cities like organs. The brain, the heart, or the kidneys.

You’ve got security. The police, firefighters, which is your immune system. If something happens, such as fire or a robbery, that’s like an infection or an injury. Broken bones.

Or it could be something else going on like an autoimmune disease like lupus or many others, which means your immune system is attacking something that it’s not supposed to.

When you see your CRP levels going up, it’s almost like an alarm.

The sirens are sounding and warning the rest of your body that help is needed. Bring resources! More firefighters, more cleaning crews, more police officers, all to fight the infection.

Please understand that this is a normal process of how your body repairs, improves and fights diseases. It’s normal.

How your body sounds the alarms is through CRP.

So we can measure the CRP and if it is elevated, it means there is some kind of inflammation happening right now.

But be sure to understand this. If the CRP levels are at a 4, 5, or 6, or whatever — these are high numbers. It means inflammation is occurring. Something is happening but it doesn’t tell us what is happening.

Where is the infection? What kind is it? Where does it hurt and why is there inflammation in the body? That’s not revealed.

That’s why it’s really important to observe the patient. Do I know if the patient has an infection right now? Is that why the CRP is high? It means there is probably an infection.

If I can’t find an infection or don’t know why the CRP is high, I have to figure it out by taking more tests.

CRP tells us whether inflammation is on or off. Is your body’s emergency system on or off?

That’s what CRP is used for. It is a great question.