Blood Tests For Autoimmune Diseases

11 July 2017

Autoimmune diseases occur when the body doesn’t differentiate between one’s own body cells and foreign cells. This then causes the body’s immune system to attack the body’s cells as if it were trying to get rid of body foreign cells, this is known as autoimmunity.

Autoimmune Blood Tests and Conditions

There are many different types of autoimmune conditions, which can be differentiated by the areas of which they attack:

• Rheumatoid Arthritis – the body targets the joints, making them swollen, stiff and painful. This can cause damage to the joints, cartilage and bone but early diagnosis through an autoimmune blood test can reduce the frequency of flare ups.
• Lupus – the body targets the skin and kidneys, causing inflammation. It currently can't be cured outright but testing can help reduce symptoms as lupus is better managed if diagnosed and treated early.
• Dermatomyositis – the body targets the skin and muscles. There are many types of myositis but dematomyositis affects both muscles and causes a rash on etremeties such as the face, back, chest, elbows, knees and knucles, caused by an underlying problem with the immune system. An autoimmune test can be carried out to check for raised levels of enzymes and antibodies in blood and then the condition can begin to be brought under control through steroids, therapies and other drugs.
• Graves Disease – the body targets and attacks the thyroid. Graves' disease is the cause of an overactive thyroid in 75% of cases but the trigger for this is unknown. When the thyroid gland is overactive, the body's heart rate and body temperature can be difficult to control which leads to anxiety, mood swings, tiredness, heat sensitivity, heart palpitations and weight loss. An autoimmune blood test to check how the thyroid is working is recommended at the first sign of any of these symptoms.
• Psoriasis – the body targets the skin, causing an increased production of skin cells and leading to red flaky skin or silvery scales. This can often be diagnosed visually but autoimmune blood tests can be used to rule out other conditions.
• Coeliac Disease – the body targets and attacks the intestines as it mistakes substances found inside gluten as a threat to the body. This leads to improper absorption of nutrients in food and may cause complications if gluten continues to be consumed. Autoimmune tests are less regular 

 Autoimmune diseases are not the easiest conditions to diagnose and a range of tests including use of diagnostic kits, physical exams, laboratory testing, radiography and biopsies have to be undertaken in order to fully diagnose the condition and type.

There are a few reasons as to why diagnosing an autoimmune condition is tricky:

• Patients initially start off with common symptoms such as fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, fever and sometimes weight fluctuations which are not specific to just an autoimmune condition.
• The symptoms also are not constant and can come and go in various severities.
• More often than not patients with autoimmunity tend to have more than one autoimmune condition.

Testing for autoimmune disease therefore needs more than a single types of examination to successfully identify the condition.

Types of Autoimmune Blood Tests

Blood tests can be carried out to help identify if the condition is of an autoimmune variety, the following are the most common tests medical professionals carry out on a potential autoimmunity patient:

Auto-antibody tests

The auto-antibodies are the antibodies that attack the healthy cells and tissues in an individual with autoimmunity. There are a variety of types of auto-antibody tests; the most common one used is the Antinuclear Antibody Test (ANA Test). This test indicates whether there is a chance of the individual suffering from an autoimmune condition however it cannot diagnose the specific autoimmune condition. If the test is positive further tests will need to be run to diagnose the exact cause of the symptoms.

Another common autoimmune test is the rheumatoid factor or RF test. This is the test to help diagnose Rheumatoid Arthritis and measures the specific RF autoantibody in a sample of blood. Those with a high concentration of RF are likely to have an active case of Rheumatoid Arthritis but it may also indicate Sjögren’s syndrome (another autoimmune disease affecting secretion production and dry organs) or another less specific autoimmune disease.

Generally auto-antibody tests are the same process as normal blood tests, with a single needle and no invasive or painful procedures. Often medical staff will interpret the blood tests based on the likelihood of the disease being present. Along with testing blood, it is also possible to test specific organs for autoimmune issues.

Inflammation and organ function tests

Some autoimmune conditions can cause organs to function abnormally, these are most likely the kidneys and liver. Therefore tests are carried out on the organs to see if they are functioning normally and are healthy to rule out any possible autoimmune conditions. This test is not as common as the Auto-antibody tests as it assumes damage has already been done to the organs to be able to identify if the patient has an autoimmune condition.

Although these blood tests can help further the diagnosis of autoimmune conditions, they are only the initial methods used in the diagnosis. Full diagnosis of an autoimmune condition can take months or even years as there are many different variations of autoimmune conditions, this is not helped by the symptoms not being unique to autoimmunity. To get the most accurate and quickest diagnosis, alongside blood tests, background research should be carried out including the patient’s family history and how long the patient has suffered from certain symptoms and to what severity. This can help cut the diagnosis time down and rule out any autoimmune conditions from the start meaning less distress for the patient overall.

Lorne Laboratories supplies test kits that can be used as an aid for the diagnosis of some autoimmune disease such as Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. In addition, Lorne supplies AHG Elite reagent which is used as a tool to help diagnose Autoimmune Haemolytic Anemia (AIHA).

View our range of blood test kits here or if you are overseas, find a Lorne distributor near you for supplying needs. If you have any questions surrounding how our test kits work please E-mail our team.

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