Hello. Is there anybody who can explain to me what c-reactive protein is and why it needs to be measured? Our neighbour told my mom she had it measured and I have never heard of it before, so I became interested. Thx
C-reactive protein is made by liver each time there is an inflammation in our body. When ever there is an abnormal amount of this protein in the body, it means that there could be a bacterial infection. It doesn’t always work with viral infections. There are other reasons the level of this protein is being measured like to check if there is a risk of infection after a surgery, to check for presence of inflammatory and infectious conditions, to follow the development of cancer treatment or treatment of an infection and it is also used as a risk predictor for cardiovascular events. The testing is not specific and it can not determine where in the body the infection is situated and therefore more tests need to be done.