Test for Rheumatoid Arthritis
The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are very similar to those of several other diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis can also be mistaken for an injury, especially if it starts out in only one joint. It is important to know exactly what your particular symptoms mean in order to get you started on the proper treatment right away. Therefore, you should know test for rheumatoid arthritis.
Instructions
Test for Rheumatoid Arthritis
1. Visit a rheumatologist or internist if you suspect that you may have rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatologists specialize in inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. Internists handle diseases of all sorts.
2. Have a sedimentation rate test to determine if inflammation is present. This test, also known as the SED test, will show how fast red blood cells fall to the bottom of a test tube over the course of an hour. The faster they fall, the higher the level of inflammation.
3. Be tested for the rheumatoid factor. The rheumatoid factor is an antibody that is commonly present in people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because rheumatoid factor rarely shows up in people without rheumatoid arthritis (except in the case of false positives and a handful of other medical conditions), it is a fairly reliable indicator of rheumatoid arthritis when other symptoms of the disease are also present.
4. Get x-rays of your joints. Joints that have been affected by rheumatoid arthritis will likely show some sort of damage. This damage can be to the cartilage and other surrounding tissues, or to the actual bone of the joint. Damage can range from slight to severe and even people who have only recently begun experiencing symptoms often have some joint damage.
5. Let your joints be put through their paces. This is called a range of motion test. Your doctor will ask you to move your joints in all the ways it is possible to move them. If you have trouble with any of these motions or experience pain when doing so, rheumatoid arthritis could be present, especially if the joints are swollen and more than one joint is affected.
Tags: rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatoid factor, your joints, rheumatoid arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Test Rheumatoid
