Have any idea about autoimmune disease? The term autoimmune diseases refer to a group of conditions that develop when your immune system accidentally attacks healthy cells. It can take some time to determine the presence of autoimmune diseases. You can also find gluten related disorders by approaching a professional doctor. A single test cannot identify all 80 autoimmune diseases. However, some blood tests can detect whether your body is experiencing an inflammatory response, a symptom of autoimmune disorders, and they can also help with the accurate diagnosis by indicating whether this response is present in your body. The disease can be exactly identified with more tests. Below you will see how to diagnose the autoimmune disease by a proper test:
C – reactive protein (CRP)
A protein called CRP, produced by the liver and released into the circulation in response to inflammation is measured using this test. Changes in CRP levels can indicate the presence of active inflammation in the body caused by autoimmune disorders, bacterial or fungal infections, or other chronic diseases, including osteoarthritis and type 2 diabetes. The following is how CRP levels are interpreted:
- Normal or little rise at 0.3 to 1.0 mg/dL: The Obesity, pregnancy, depression, diabetes, the common cold, gingivitis, periodontitis, sedentary behavior, smoking, and genetic polymorphisms are conditions when this is visible.
- Moderate Elevation of 10.0 mg/dL or more: This refers to a condition that causes widespread inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or other autoimmune diseases, cancer, myocardial infarction, pancreatitis, or bronchitis.
- Over 10.0 mg/dL: Significant increase denotes severe trauma, systemic vasculitis, acute bacterial infections, and viral infections.
- Severe elevation if over 50.0 mg/dL: Acute bacterial infections may be the cause.
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)
Inflammation often results in an elevated ESR, which is a measurement of the number of red blood cells (RBC) that precipitate in a tube. Although the ESR is not a diagnostic test, it can be used to track illness progress and therapy success and indicate the presence of inflammatory and viral stress. The patient’s age, gender, RBC shape, hemoglobin concentration, and immunoglobulin serum levels are only a few of the variables that can affect the ESR. You can read an autoimmune disease book to know more about the test.
RF and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP)
The rheumatoid factor test looks for the presence of an immune system protein, which has the potential to attack healthy joints, glands, or cells mistakenly. It is typically used to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis, but it can also identify other autoimmune diseases, juvenile arthritis, lupus, some infections including tuberculosis, cancers like leukemia, and some conditions. RF is an autoantibody that reacts with other kinds of immunoglobulins and the Fc component of polyclonal IgG. Most assays detect the IgM rheumatoid factor. To know the exact part of the test, you can read the autoimmune disease book where you will get more details. Although it is absent in roughly 15% of rheumatoid arthritis patients, RF is useful in diagnosing persons who may have the disease. Patients whose test is positive for RF are more likely to develop additional symptoms such as rheumatoid nodules and vasculitis as well as progressive, erosive arthritis with loss of joint mobility. On the other hand, some autoimmune diseases can also have RF. Rheumatoid factor is present in the blood in just trace amounts in about 20% of persons with rheumatoid arthritis. The anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies test may be requested even if your test results are normal to confirm or rule out rheumatoid arthritis.
Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA)
Your immune system produces antibodies and proteins to fight viruses and bacteria. If you find any illness in your body, you can check to see whether it is a gluten-related disorders. However, an antinuclear antibody targets your cells. Because it concentrates on the nucleus of cells, it is known as antinuclear. In view of this, if an ANA test reveals antinuclear antibodies in your blood, you may suffer from an autoimmune condition. However, being generally healthy, up to 15% of individuals can test positive for a low-titer ANA without having an underlying autoimmune illness.
This test, primarily used to diagnose SLE, evaluates the antibody level or titer and typically returns a result that is either positive when antibodies are present or negative when none are found. These antibodies can occasionally indicate other systemic autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma, while ANA is most frequently used to diagnose lupus. The absence of ANA makes a diagnosis of SLE far less likely but does not always rule it out.
Bottom Line
An autoimmune disease diagnosis can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. Blood tests may need to be repeated, although they don’t always provide a clear picture. Even if you believe your symptoms have nothing to do with a specific ailment, you can discuss them with your healthcare professional. Every symptom is a sign your doctor can use to focus their differential diagnosis. The above listed are a few tests to diagnose autoimmune diseases.
