It can be speculated that the finding that waist:hip ratio and age influence baseline and post-injury CRP levels with a very similar size of effect supports the contention that baseline CRP is a measure of inflammatory responsiveness to casual stimuli and that obesity and higher age modulate the generic excitability of the inflammatory system leading to both higher baseline CRP and higher CRP response to surgery through similar mechanisms. The gene discussed is CRP; the disease is obesity disorder.