What causes the sudden increase in the CPK of a person?

Question

My husband had a blood chem check last oct and had a CPK of 167. This nov, he had another check and the result was 600+! What caused its sudden increase? Can it still be brought down to normal figures? Was anything damaged in his heart? I'm really bothered. Thanks in advance

HIs total cholesterol is 210 (reference value at 200), LDL at 131.15 (ref value at 149.99) ... if it would help for you to know. He never had any heart attacks yet (i pray that he doen't get one either!) He's only 40 years old.

Answer 1

CPK could be elevated due to heart attack, heavy workout, side effect of cholesterol medicine(statins can cause muscle damage leading to rhamdomyolysis). It's non-specific as to type of muscle. If he feels fine and recently did alot of hard weightlifting then he's probably fine. If not, and he's taking simvastatin, lovastatin, atorvastatin, or any of the statins-stop taking it and report to the ER now. If he's feeling bad now or has recently, then again ER now.

BTW, who checked it recently?? Call them and ask what to do. Since it's the weekend, you will probably have to tell the anwsering service you need the on-call MD for your doc.

Answer 2

CPK by itself is nonspecific with sources coming from muscle, liver, brain, and heart. An elevated CPK can come from a hard work out. CPK-MB is specific to heart muscle. Other studies such as Troponin (heart attack marker) B-type natremic peptide (congestive heart failure marker) and Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (liver function, kidney function, electrolytes) can be helpful in sorting out what is going on too.

Answer 3

Usually the cause of an increase in CPK is a heart attack. The amount of damage to the heart can be determined by an echocardiogram. He needs to be seeing a cardiologist.

Answer 4

My son has an elevated CPK, he has an underlying muscle disorder. He has a lot of cramping but had a muscle biopsy to rule out more progressive muscular dystrophies.