Anti Nuclear Antibodies (ANA) Test

Antinuclear antibody test : Why is it necessary

As we all know, antibodies are proteins that are generated by the natural immune system of a human body, which fights against the trespassing bacterias and infections. Antibodies are known as a specific type of protein. Generally what happens is, antibodies target harmful substances like bacterias and viruses. However, sometimes these antibodies target the healthy tissues and cells mistakenly, which is known as autoimmune response that is caused by antinuclear antibodies. To be more specific, the types of antibodies that target the nucleus of every cell of the body are known as ANA or antinuclear antibodies. The basic purpose of performing an antinuclear antibody test is to determine the presence of antinuclear antibodies in an individual’s blood.

If the antibodies start to attack your own body parts then it can be extremely harmful for you. Attacks of the antinuclear antibodies may cause huge damage to your joints, muscles, skin and many other parts of your body. There are several types of autoimmune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma etc.

When to go for this test?

When the primary signs and symptoms of autoimmune diseases start to get visible in your body then your doctor may suggest you to go for this test. Some of the most common symptoms of autoimmune diseases are persistent fever, tiredness, joint and muscle pain, numbness, tingling in the hands and feet, hair loss, light sensitivity etc.

However, this must be kept in mind that an antinuclear antibody test can make sure that you have some kind of autoimmune disease but it can’t be performed to detect which autoimmune disease has taken place in your body. A normal range of ANA in the blood is not problematic, but an extreme amount of these proteins in the blood clearly signifies the presence of any autoimmune disease in a human body.

Test preparation

No specific preparations are needed to appear for this test. However, it is a must to inform the doctors if you are already on any kind of medication or if you take any particular kind of supplement. Use of certain kinds of drugs may hamper the test report accuracy, so it’s necessary to inform the doctors about the medications you take. There are no restrictions on having meals and drinks usually before appearing for this test. Also, the ANA test price is really reasonable these days.

Sample requirements

A medical expert will be fetching a certain amount of blood from your vein and the test will be performed on that collected blood sample. Soon after the samples are collected, it will be kept in a tube and will be carried to the lab. It’s natural to feel a bit of pain when the needle is inserted for the purpose of collecting blood samples, however, the pain doesn’t last and should go away within a day. It is necessary to inform the doctor if you feel any kind of discomfort or uneasiness during the blood sample collection process.

Result interpretation

It’s not really a big deal to interpret an ANA test result. A positive test result means that you have high levels of antinuclear antibodies in your blood. The higher the amount of ANA’s are in the blood, the more the chances of the presence of an autoimmune disease is. On the other hand, a negative test result means that you are less likely to have an autoimmune disease in your body. A positive ANA report may indicate the presence of certain types of autoimmune diseases like

• Autoimmune Hepatitis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Autoimmune Thyroid disease
• Sjogren’s disease
• Scleroderma
• Dermatomyositis

A ratio of 1:640 or higher symbolizes a big possibility of the existence of an autoimmune disorder. Similarly, a ratio of 1.40 or 1.80 signifies low possibility of having an autoimmune disorder. However, it is always a wise decision to have a brief consultation with any certified doctor or medical expert about the test report. Also, if the test report detects the presence of any autoimmune disease in your body then don’t be late to seek medical attention because autoimmune disorders can be extremely dangerous if left untreated. You can easily check an ANA profile test price online before you book one for yourself or any of your loved ones.