But numerous other researchers are developing simpler-to-use methods to spot dangerous, inflamed plaque so patients can be treated before they get heart attacks.

FORBES: Peeking at Plaque

The protein is thought to be a measure of inflammation in the arteries, and inflamed arteries are more likely to develop the clots that cause heart attacks and strokes.

FORBES: Magazine Article

New catheter-based imagers aim to improve IVUS by letting doctors distinguish stable plaque, safely ensconced in scar tissue, from the inflamed plaque that is more likely to rupture and trigger a heart attack.

FORBES: Peeking at Plaque

And AstraZeneca's recently approved statin, Crestor, could swell the market by another 30 million people in 2007, when it expects to complete a 15, 000-person study that aims to prove Crestor prevents heart attacks in people with normal cholesterol but who are at high risk due to inflamed arteries.

FORBES: Pills for Everyone!

Researchers from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College, London, looked at how the lungs become inflamed in COPD sufferers.

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