High-Sensitive C-Reactive Protein: a marker to assess risk of cardiovascular disease

death in the western world. In the United States, more than 70 million Americans have one or more types of CVD, and a recent report states that CVD is the cause of approximately as many deaths each year as the next five leading causes of death combined (cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, diabetes mellitus and influenza and pneumonia) [1]. The healthcare costs associated with CVD are enormous. In 2005 the estimated direct and indirect cost of CVD in the United States alone was $393.5 billion.