Q: My c-reactive protein level was 4.2 when tested three months ago. I was reading your article about AA/EPA ratio as an alternate and better test, and I would like more information about the AA/EPA test as compared to the hs c-reactive protein test. Is the AA/EPA test more accurate than the hs c-reactive protein level or about the same? Or are they used for different purposes?
A: C-reactive protein is a very crude test that only looks at downstream inflammation, whereas the AA/EPA ratio looks at the real-time balance of the building blocks of pro-inflammation (AA) and anti-inflammation (EPA). An increase in the AA/EPA ratio is indicative that inflammation is increasing and appears years ahead of any increase in the C-reactive protein levels.