Incorporating insulin into the mix of clot-busting and anticoagulation drugs administered to a patient suffering a heart attack significantly lowers the amount of inflammation in the blood vessels following the attack, a response that can improve a patient’s chances of survival, a study conducted by researchers from the University at Buffalo has shown. The study is the first to show that insulin can reduce concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA), two critical markers of inflammation, by 40 percent and 50 percent, respectively, during the 48 hours following a heart attack.
