What does an elevated ANA test mean?

Answer 1

This is from a web.. i just got a positive ANA test myself, been researching like crazy to figure out what it could be..

http://Arthritis.about.com/od/diagnostic/a/ana.htm

Types of Antibodies

In order to understand the ANA (antinuclear antibody) test, it is first important to understand different types of antibodies.

Antibodies are proteins, produced by white blood cells, which normally circulate in the blood to defend against foreign invaders such as bacteria, viruses, and toxins.

Autoantibodies, instead of acting against foreign invaders as normal antibodies do, attack the body's own cells.

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ana/test.html#what

ANA shows up on indirect immunofluorescence as fluorescent patterns in cells that are fixed to a slide that is evaluated under a microscope. Different patterns are associated with a variety of autoimmune disorders. Some of the more common patterns include:

• Homogenous (diffuse) - associated with SLE and mixed connective tissue disease
• Speckled - associated with SLE, Sjogren's syndrome, scleroderma, polymyositis, rheumatoid arthritis, and mixed connective tissue disease
• Nucleolar - associated with scleroderma and polymyositis
• Outline pattern (peripheral) -associated with SLE

Answer 2

ANA stands for antinuclear antibodies. Simply put, in autoimmune diseases like lupus, the body makes antibodies against the nucleii of healthy cells or of the nuclear debris that circulates in the blood stream after normal cell death. Anything under 40 is not suspicious. According to Daniel Wallace, MD in The Lupus Book 10 million Americans have a positive ANA while only 1.5 million have lupus. Of the 1.5 million who have lupus, 5% will have a negative ANA. And, according to Wallace, the ANA level is not linked directly to the level of disease activity. The ANA test is a titer. The number represents how many times a sample of blood had to be diluted before an ANA free sample remained. In addition to the titer, a significant factor is the pattern that appears when the antinuclear antibodies are stained and examined under immunofluorescence. A speckled pattern is more indicative of lupus than a nuclear or homogenous pattern, which can be seen in other autoimmune disorders. For these reasons, a positive ANA in itself is not sufficient to either make a diagnosis of lupus or to rule lupus out. Unfortunately, most general practitioners and internists are not trained in the subtleties of diagnosing lupus.

Answer 3

ANA means anti-nuclear antibodies. About 10 million Americans have a positive ANA. The older you are, the more likely you are to have a positive ANA. A positive ANA may indicate an autoimmune disease. The immunofluorescent pattern helps determine which disease. Many people with a positive ANA have no disease at all.

People with a positive ANA make antibodies that mistakenly identify the circulating nuclear debris in the blood as pathogens and tag them for destruction.

Answer 4

ANA stands for (number of) Antinuclear Antibodies.

The people with elevated A.N.A. do not have lupus.