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has anyone else had an ANA Positive blood test result

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3 years 2 months ago #70490 by Meredith
I had a number of blood tests and, my ANA result was very high. I am wondering if anyone else had this result. this is something the team at Mass General looks for.

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  • midwest6708
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  • ~ Janet ~ Diagnosed Sept. 2008
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3 years 2 months ago - 3 years 2 months ago #70504 by midwest6708
If I remember right, ANA is a non-specific test used where autoimmune disease is suspected. It only indicates the presence of some type of autoantibody, but not which exact one. When the result is high positive, further tests have to be done for disease specific antibodies like the ones that cause RA, Sjogren's, etc. Back when I only had Hashimoto's thyroid disease (autoimmune) , my ANA was weakly positive, a pretty good sign that I was set to become the autoimmune mess I am now, I think.

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  • mrsb04
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  • ITP since 2014. Retired nurse. My belief is empower patients to be involved as much as possible in their care. Read, read, read & ALWAYS question medics about the evidence base they use.
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3 years 2 months ago - 3 years 2 months ago #70505 by mrsb04
The abstract of Antinuclear antibodies in healthy people and non-rheumatic diseases – diagnostic and clinical implications (whole paper accessed at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6142026/ ) states
"The presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) is mainly associated with connective tissue diseases (CTD). In addition, their presence is found in healthy people. These antibodies are more common in women and the elderly. Some drugs and xenobiotics are also important for the development of autoimmunity and ANA synthesis. Moreover, the deficiency of vitamin D in the body of patients correlates with occurrence of these antibodies. Unlike the healthy group, a positive ANA count was observed in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and in people with immune disorders. Antinuclear antibodies in low counts are also found in the course of chronic bacterial or viral infection and in patients with hematological malignancies. Also the possibility of false positive results, which may be caused by the choice of method used to determine antibodies, should be borne in mind. Taking into account all these factors, it is concluded that the ANA result itself has no diagnostic value."
Not sure I completely agree with the final statement, it could be a sign post to look for something else. However it could have given a false positive result .

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  • midwest6708
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  • ~ Janet ~ Diagnosed Sept. 2008
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3 years 2 months ago #70508 by midwest6708
Thanks for the explanation, mrsb. I knew that the test doesn’t mean much on its own, and I had forgotten about it being more indicative of connective tissue disease than other AI ones. I learned a lot that's new to me from what you posted.
The following user(s) said Thank You: mrsb04

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  • mrsb04
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  • ITP since 2014. Retired nurse. My belief is empower patients to be involved as much as possible in their care. Read, read, read & ALWAYS question medics about the evidence base they use.
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3 years 2 months ago #70509 by mrsb04
You're welcome midwest

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