Positive ANA Test

Hi All,

Is it typical to have a positive ANA with MS?

In the beginning of my neurological chaos I was tested and my ANA was titer 1:32 homogenous. But my dsDNA was negative and so were all my other autoimmune disease tests..

Take Care, Theresa

[HVAC]

A positive ANA just means you have inflammation. The DNA being negative rules out Lupus which they look for with a positive ANA. I had a positive ANA and a very strong LP which told the Doctors I had a lot of inflammation. My DNA was negative plus I had no symptoms of Lupus. They have to take tests and symptoms and match them for a diagnosis. MS is mostly a diagnosis of exclusion of all other diseases.

Alex

[Quixotic1]

The positive ANA may likely mean nothing.  Many healthy people have a low positive titer like 1:32 or 1:64.  People with real inflammatory disease almost always have a very high ANA titer (as high or higher than 1:320)

MS is NOT statstically associated with positive ANA titers.  Period.  

People with MS may have low-positive ANA's, just as people in the general population can have them.

To clarify what Alex said, the ANA is a marker for some Inflammatory Diseases, but is not a marker for inflammation itself, like the Sed Rate or the CRP (C-Reactive Protein).

Quix

[StormyRenee]

Thank You.


Please Take Care, Theresa

[Deb61]

I've had low titer ANAs 1:80 along with some other indicators that inflammation was going on (C-reactive protein and elevated sed. rate).  Were other tests like these run on you and were they positive?  

Looking back, I think the explanation for all three tests to be slightly abnormal was that something autoimmune was going on.  For me, I think it was the thyroid problem that I was diagnosed years later after the initial symptoms, but I'll never know for sure.