hs-CRP: What Your Inflammation Marker Means

C-reactive protein is made by the liver in response to inflammation. The high-sensitivity version detects the small changes relevant to long-term cardiovascular risk, not just the large spikes of acute infection.

It is a general marker: it tells you inflammation is present somewhere, not where it is coming from.

Chronically elevated hs-CRP is associated with higher cardiovascular risk, independent of cholesterol, and is sometimes used to decide whether to treat borderline lipid results more aggressively.

Any recent infection, injury, dental work, or hard workout can raise CRP many-fold, so a single high value in that setting should be repeated rather than acted on.

Recent illness or injury, obesity, smoking, poor sleep, periodontal disease, autoimmune conditions, estrogen therapy, and intense exercise in the prior few days all raise hs-CRP. Statins and weight loss lower it.