[Redfox]

Hey everyone, me again !!

My ANA is 1:160, some people's can be as high as 1:2580 for example.
I am wondering what the difference is ?
What does the ANA represent, does 1:2580 mean more disease activity ?
If not, can anyone tell me what the blood test is that measure's the activity ?

thank you !!!!!

 

[Fairy]

The ANA doubles, so it goes 1:40, 1:80, 1:160, 1:320, 1:640, etc etc. The higher the number, the more positive it is, but it can't be relied upon to show disease activity - the number doesn't reflect how you feel. If you've tested positive once, it's ususally not worth retesting it regularly.

The one doctors tend to use to show disease activity is anti dsDNA, but again it can't be completely relied on. Some people never test positive for it (or it takes a long time for it to show up), and it also sometimes has a delayed reaction, so it might go up after your flare is under control etc. Symptoms are a better guide!

Hope that helps - someone else might come along with a better answer soon. :hehe:

 

[cath]

Hi,

Fairy's answer is spot on. There is no one blood test that measures disease activity. It is a combination of everything, including all the blood tests, symptoms and physical examination.

One tool commonly used to acurately describe disease activity is the SLEDAI. This is mostly used for research studies where the authors want to describe what their SLE polulation was like, but it is also used by rheumatologists to assess the disease activity of an individual patient. Here is a copy of it:

http://www.medalreg.com/irh/medal/ch22/ch22.07/ch22.07.02.php#result

Once you are more experienced in living with lupus, you will learn to recognise the signs in yourself, and a good rheumatologist will learn to listen to what you say, because in lupus, the patient usually knows best. If you feel bad, then that is real, and if you feel better, great:wink2:. The big exception here is renal involvement, which is why regular urine and BP checks are done.

Hope this helps,

X C X