Indicator Explainer
hs-CRP
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein — an inflammation marker also used, in context, in cardiovascular risk assessment.
This page explains what the indicator is and how results are interpreted in general terms. Reference ranges depend on the laboratory, the method, and your own situation — no single “normal value” applies to everyone. This page is health information, not a diagnosis. For symptoms, treatment, or urgent concerns, contact a healthcare professional.
When it is tested
Measured to detect and monitor infection or inflammation, and — with repeated sampling and formal risk models — as one input among several in cardiovascular risk assessment.
Reading results
CRP is a non-specific acute-phase reactant: infection, injury, surgery, and chronic inflammatory disease all raise it, and recent illness can elevate values for weeks. Cardiovascular use requires two separate measurements two weeks or more apart, interpretation within validated risk frameworks, and never in the presence of acute inflammation. Decision thresholds differ between guidelines and laboratories.
Questions to ask a professional
- Was any acute illness, injury, or vaccination recent?
- Is this an inflammation measurement or a cardiovascular risk measurement?
- If cardiovascular: were two spaced measurements used, and within which risk model?