Study of serum C-reactive protein in elderly diabetics

Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic disorder resulting from a number of factors in which an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin or its function occurs. The most common and life-threatening disorder that besets type 2 diabetes subjects is Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). Irrespective of the ethnic background, the risk for CHD among diabetic subjects is greater by a factor of 2 to 4 compared to non-diabetic subjects. As diabetics are at risk of CVD. Therefore, there is a need to identify markers which would help in prognosis and diagnosis of the disease. C-Reactive Protein (CRP), an acute phase reactant has long been considered as a classic marker for inflammation. As atherosclerosis involves inflammation of the vascular endothelium, CRP levels tend to be raised. Several prospective clinical case control studies have identified CRP as a strong, independent risk factor for CAD. With the advent of high sensitive (hs) CRP assays, this risk factor is gaining importance in the field of CAD and atherosclerosis. CRP is informative regarding mortality risk beyond that provided by other inflammatory and nutritional markers, with significantly higher risk seen at CRP > 3 mg/L. Greater use of CRP may lead to improved patient care as suggested by the association of greater CRP measurement with lower cardiovascular mortality.