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1056589 tn?1273747102

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

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Avatar universal
Hi, I know this post is old but just incase someone else comes across this...

The ANA test is not to test for inflammation. The CRP (C-Reactive Protein) tests for inflammation. An ANA test detects antinuclear antibodies in your blood. Your immune system normally makes antibodies to help you fight infection. In contrast, antinuclear antibodies often attack your body's own tissues — specifically targeting each cell's nucleus. (per Mayo Clinics website)

Put simply this test is looking for protein in your blood that destroys the nuclei of your cells.

It is possible to test positive on an ANA test without having any symptoms of sickness (seemingly healthy) but if you have tested positive at some point in life you will more than likely begin to have symptoms of an autoimmune disease.

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease so it makes perfect sense that the ANA test woud come back positive with this disease.
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My titers have always been 1:_2560 or even upwards 5000 (they don't measure any higher) but after 15 years rheumatologists keep saying it's a systemic disease, while neurologists keep talking MS or similar. But nobody has the guts to prescribe me anything or to  give me a confirmed diagnosis. The only thing I know after 15 years is that I hve artritis, raynaud  and periferal neuropathy, and also double vision for over 30 years (cause unknown!) and my health is getting worse and worse.
Nice, isn't it?
My titers have always been 1:_2560 or even upwards 5000 (they don't measure any higher) but after 15 years rheumatologists keep saying it's a systemic disease, while neurologists keep talking MS or similar. But nobody has the guts to prescribe me anything or to  give me a confirmed diagnosis. The only thing I know after 15 years is that I hve artritis, raynaud  and periferal neuropathy, and also double vision for over 30 years (cause unknown!) and my health is getting worse and worse.
Nice, isn't it?
429700 tn?1308007823
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.

  

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1056589 tn?1273747102
Thank You.


Please Take Care, Theresa
Helpful - 0
147426 tn?1317265632
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

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ANA titers

Low titers are 1:40 (first serum to dilution ratio) and borderline low is 1:80 though some labs or docs consider 1:80 positive.

1:32 is greater dilution than 1.16, as 1:64 is greater than 1:32.

1.64 is a high ana titer with most labs only going as high as 1:1280 or one more dilution performed. However some labs will go one more 1:2560.

While it's TRUE that on average 15% of healthy people have a positive ana and will never develop autoimmune diseases usually those  ana(s) do not run as high as 1:64.

Thank you for sharing your information.  We hope you come back to visit the forum!
667078 tn?1316000935
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
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A negative Dna does not rule out Lupus. It is more specific for the disease, but you may have Lupus while still having a negative Dna test. I know this is an issue than can be confusing, but as a Lupie I know this to be true, or at least the majority of Rheumatologists say that it is. It's really about having 4 out of the 11 guidelines set forth by the American Board of Rheumatology.
A negative Dna does not rule out Lupus. It is more specific for the disease, but you may have Lupus while still having a negative Dna test. I know this is an issue than can be confusing, but as a Lupie I know this to be true, or at least the majority of Rheumatologists say that it is. It's really about having 4 out of the 11 guidelines set forth by the American Board of Rheumatology.
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