Fatigue is a common symptom of RA and can be a difficult problem to manage. To improve fatigue, it is important to find out why you are fatigued. Your doctor can help by taking a good medical history, including asking about the duration and quality of your sleep, the amount of pain you are having, [...]

When a physician is evaluating a person with joint pain and swelling, he or she may use x-rays to determine whether the arthritis has caused damage to the bones of the joint. Radiographs, as x-rays are sometimes called, are especially important if the doctor suspects RA. He or she will often order that x-rays be [...]

C-reactive protein (CRP) is found in the bloodstream of people who have an inflammatory condition such as RA. This protein is made in the liver and its production increases when inflammation is present in the body (though it is not the only protein that is produced when inflammation occurs). CRP plays an important role in [...]

Testing positive for the CCP antibody test does not automatically mean that you have RA. A CCP test can be positive in other rheumatic diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Sj?gren’s syndrome, scleroderma, and cryoglobulinemia, as well as in some infectious diseases. In addition, 1% of healthy people will have positive CCP tests. Testing positive [...]

A newer blood test used to help diagnose RA is the citrulline antibody test, more formally known as the cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody test. It may also be referred to as anti-citrulline antibody, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP), or cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody IgG (CCP IgG). Citrulline antibody An antibody directed against an unusual [...]

No one test can “prove” that a person has RA, or any other autoimmune disease for that matter. Instead, RA is diagnosed only after your doctor has performed a full history and physical exam and administered a few tests, such as the antinuclear antibody (ANA) test. You should consider the following facts when thinking about [...]

Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are proteins found in the bloodstream of some people who have RA or other diseases. Doctors test for these antibodies to help make a diagnosis of RA and other autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and drug-induced lupus. An ANA test may also be positive in cases of scleroderma, Sj?gren’s [...]

My doctor orders a complete blood count several times each year. Do I need to get this test so frequently? A complete blood count (CBC) is an excellent screening test. It helps the doctor diagnose illnesses, monitor disease activity, and look out for medication side effects. How frequently a physician orders a CBC has a [...]

A complete blood count (CBC) is a measurement of the components of the blood. This test can help your doctor both diagnose disease and monitor the safety of any treatments administered for a disease. The CBC is also called a blood count, a hemogram, or a CBC with differential. While many other blood tests measure [...]

The sedimentation rate (“sed rate”) is not a perfect test, and using it can pose a challenge for physicians. An elevated sed rate is understood by physicians to be neither sensitive nor specific for RA. A highly sensitive test for RA would give a positive result for all people with RA; a highly specific test [...]

A sedimentation rate is a blood test that is commonly performed on patients with RA. This test is also sometimes referred to as a “sed rate” or an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). The sedimentation rate measures how fast the red blood cells (erythrocytes) settle (become sediment) in the bottom of a glass tube. Erythrocyte sedimentation [...]

Rheumatoid arthritis cannot be diagnosed with a blood test alone. The RF test is helpful in making the diagnosis of RA, but it isn’t foolproof. Notably, this test produces both falsepositive and false-negative results. Rheumatoid arthritis cannot be diagnosed with a blood test alone. The rheumatoid factor test is helpful in making the diagnosis of [...]

My Doctor Told Me I Had To Get A Test For Rheumatoid Factor. What Is That? The test for rheumatoid factor (RF) is ordered when you have symptoms of RA, such as stiffness in your joints for a long time in the morning, swelling, nodules under your skin, and evidence on x-rays of swollen joints [...]

Rituximab (pronounced “ri-TUX-i-mab”) is an antibody that was originally created in the laboratory. It is designed to interact with B cells, which are a type of white blood cells that play a role in the initiation and development of RA. Rituximab (brand name: Rituxan) decreases the number of B cells in the circulation. In fact, [...]

Gold compounds have been used to treat diseases for centuries. The ancient Chinese thought ingesting gold would prolong life and increase vitality. In Europe in the sixteenth century, gold compounds were used to treat epilepsy and depression. In the late nineteenth century microbiologists discovered that gold inhibited the growth of tubercle bacilli, the organism responsible [...]

Abatacept (brand name: Orenica) is the first in a new class of biologic agents used in the treatment of RA. The members of this class are collectively called co-stimulation modulators. T cells play an important role in your immune system by fighting off viruses, bacteria, and other disease-causing agents. A normal immune system leaves healthy [...]

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors are a new class of biologic therapies that have changed the face of rheumatology over the past decade. TNF inhibitor therapy can lead to dramatic improvements in RA symptoms and prevent joint destruction. Unlike the typical arthritis drugs, which tend to be composed of small molecules, TNF inhibitors are complex [...]

Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) is an antimalarial drug that is commonly prescribed to treat RA, systemic lupus erythematosus, and some other rheumatic diseases. This class of medications has a long history. Antimalarial medications that are also useful in treating arthritis were first developed from the bark of the Peruvian cinchona tree. Plaquenil is one of a group [...]

Sulfasalazine (brand name: Azulfidine) is an effective DMARD that is used in the treatment of RA. This drug is created from the combination of salicylic acid (the active ingredient in aspirin) and sulfapyridine (an antibiotic). It is given by mouth and is available in the form of time-release tablets. Like the other DMARDs, sulfasalazine has [...]

Leflunomide is a new DMARD. It was approved by the FDA as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in October 1998, and is sold under the name Arava in the United States. This drug has a different chemical structure than other DMARDs and a unique mechanism of action for improving RA symptoms. Leflunomide is an effective [...]