Blood Test May Predict Women's Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke
Posted on: Tuesday, 15 March 2005, 00:00 CST
Mar. 15--A routine blood test including a white blood cell count could become a simple and cheap way to help predict which postmenopausal women are at greater risk for heart attacks or strokes, a national team of researchers reported Monday.
A high white blood cell count is an indicator of inflammation, which has been linked to the buildup of fatty deposits in arteries feeding the heart and brain, the hallmark of cardiovascular disease.
Reporting in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the researchers found that women who had the highest white blood cell counts had a 40 percent higher risk of heart attack than women with the lowest count. Women in the highest bracket also had a 46 percent greater risk of stroke and a 50 percent greater risk of death over the course of the six-year study.
"This confirms the finding that there is a role of inflammation in the prediction of cardiovascular disease and that the white blood cell count is another potential test that could be used to help identify which people are at higher risk," said Dr. Philip Greenland, chief of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a member of the study team.
The white blood cell count could be used in conjunction with assessment of other risk factors such as cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, weight, smoking and physical activity, he said.
Many doctors now measure inflammation in patients using another test called the C-reactive protein, or CRP. CRP is a byproduct of the inflammatory process.
The CRP test costs about $70, whereas the routine blood test, which includes the white blood cell count as well as red cell and platelet counts, runs about $25-$30, Greenland said.
"This offers a stable, well standardized, widely available and inexpensive measure of systemic inflammation," the researchers reported.
Since the cheaper blood test is such a routine part of physical exams, it could serve as an additional early predictor of cardiovascular disease in women who have not received a CRP test, he said.
"White cell counts are done routinely, usually to see whether the patient has an underlying infection," said Dr. Jacques Rossouw of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which supported the study. "This and other studies suggest that physicians could also learn something more: whether their patients are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease."
The study involved a six-year follow-up of 72,242 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years who participated in the Women's Health Initiative.
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Source: Chicago Tribune
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