Can high CRP and fibrinogen levels be treated?
The short answer is, no. Regarding CRP levels, it is not the CRP level itself that is thought to be the problem, but the presumed inflammation in the coronary arteries that is reflected by the high CRP level. So the real question is whether the inflammation (and not the CRP) can be treated. There is some evidence that infection with an organism called Chlamydia pneumoniae may be a factor in the development of coronary artery disease. If so, then antibiotics might be effective in eliminating the infection and reducing the risk of heart attacks (and, incidentally, in reducing CRP levels). But the only published trial testing whether antibiotics help to prevent heart attacks (in patients with serum markers for Chlamydia) showed no benefit. Two larger trials are underway, however. If antibiotics should prove effective in the future, measuring CRP levels may turn out to be a useful screening tool to select patients who might benefit from antibiotic therapy. Further, there is accumulating ev
