>
> Hello All,
> Recently, my sister told me that my brother-in-law had a taken a test
> referred to as 'CPK' to determine the free radical count in his blood (he
> does not have Parkinson's but he does have an auto-immune disorder, the name
> of which escapes me only that it is a very long, technical name). Apparently
> the normal count is around 180.
> Regards,
> Jeff Carper
> [log in to unmask]
> --
Dear Jeff,
The CPK is an isoenzyme that is present in high amounts with
destruction of muscle tissue, very specifically cardiac muscle tissue.
We use the test to determine whether a heart attack has occurred in
patients who are symptomatic. It is only valid in those cases if the
levels are immediately high within 8-12 hours after the attack and
remain high over the next 72 hours.
CPK is also high if muscle damage has occurred, which is probably
why your brother-in-law's levels are checked regularly. I'm not sure what
benefit CPK would be for Parkinson's patients.
------
Regards,
Mary Ann Ryan
