In my opinion, no.

Serological (antibodies that react to chlamydial antigens).

In my opinion, no.  There is no strong evidence to support the use of
antibiotics to prevent heart disease.  Moreover, the widespread and
liberal use of antibiotics is not without risks for both the individual
and the society at large.

Oxidized fats should be avoided.  Imo, skim milk is ok because the fats
are removed.


At His service,

Andrew

--
Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist

**
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Good question.  There's good evidence that Chlamydia is involved in
CHD.  See the CDC review by Campbell at
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol4no4/campbell.htm

OTOH, some studies that have looked hard for Chlamydia in heart attacks
haven't found it.
http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/35/9/2024?etoc

There are essentially two assays.  If they've sliced you open for other
surgery they can scrape a little plaque out and assay it.  If that
doesn't sound inviting, they can check your blood for antibodies to
Chlamydia.

I asked my intern about being screened for C. Pneumonia antibodies.  He
was respectful of the hypothesis that C pnuemonia causes CHD.  But He
discouraged antibody testing saying, roughly
- This isn't a standard test.  There isn't a standard for
interpreting the test.  There's no known titer cutoff point for knowing
when to start treating.
- Some other species of chlamydia cause sore throat, and you could
have had a touch of C pnuemonia in your lungs at some point.  (He
didn't ask me if I'd ever had chlamydia vererially, but the point is
the same.)  If the antibody test comes up positive, it doesn't tell me
whether you've got C pnuemonia in your arterial plaque.
- If we find the antibodies, there's no standard treatment.   I don't
know what antibiotic to try.
-  I don't know how long to treat it.  Would you have to be on a course
of antibiotics for weeks?  months? years?  Will the condition come
right back as soon as the antibiotics start?  What do your antibody
titers have to fall to before we can quit?
- If the C pnuemonia is burrowed down within the arteriosclerotic
plaque (which the autopsy reports indicate is the case), it's going to
be very difficult to get enough antibiotic to it to do any good.
- It's not covered under your health plan; you'll be paying full
freight.

So I had him check my C Reactive Protein.  It's a $15 test.  I figured
that if it was low, I wouldn't worry about it.  CRP is a good indicator
of systemic inflammation.  I expect that if C Pnuemonia was chewing up
my arteries, CRP would elevate.

My CRP came back at 0.5 mg/l.  Anything below 1.0 is excellent.  So I
decided not to worry about chlamydia.

Adam Becker