How Do You Detect Rheumatoid Arthritis

What Will My Results Tell Me

The rheumatoid arthritis at-home test can tell you if you have elevated biomarkers that might indicate a high likelihood of rheumatoid arthritis. You can use your results report to engage with your primary care physician or a rheumatologist for further diagnostics and treatment if necessary. Read more about RA blood testing.

What Are Some Of The Other Methods To Diagnose Osteoarthritis

Besides the appearance of arthritis on X-ray, there are some other tests as well that are performed by the doctors to know better about the patients condition. Before the X-Ray test, the doctor will ask some questions to study your symptoms. The doctors will ask these things to the patient.

• The degree of pain
• How long have you been suffering from this pain?
• What kinds of activities are difficult to perform because of the pain or decreased mobility?

After reviewing the symptoms, the doctor will perform some physical examinations to know about these things:

• See if there is a swelling in the joint, as it could be a sign of excess fluid.
• Check if the muscle is thinning or not
• Check out joint mobility to see if it is normal or not
• Joint tenderness
• The grating sounds while moving the joints, which is called crepitus
• Swelling in the bones
• Joint instability

Some other forms of tests that doctors may include are as follows:

• Blood tests: The blood tests are usually not necessary to diagnose osteoarthritis however, the doctor may ask the patient to test their blood for ruling out other possible diagnoses.
• Joint fluid analysis: The doctor will use the needle for withdrawing the fluid if there is an excess swelling around the joints. The fluid will be used by the doctor to see if the patient has an infection, gout, or some osteoarthritis-related inflammation.

What Areas Of The Body Are Affected

Symptoms of joint inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis can occur throughout several areas of the body. The nature of autoimmune disease in RA leads to inflammation in multiple joints gradually wearing the bone and cartilage away.

The main areas affected by joint inflammation are:

• Hands
• Ankles
• Toes

RA symptoms can occur in either one or multiple locations. When symptoms occur in more than four different joints in the body, the condition is referred to as polyarthritis.

Also Check: What Foods Help Reduce Arthritis Pain

Diagnosis And Management Of Rheumatoid Arthritis

AMY M. WASSERMAN, MD, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

Am Fam Physician. 2011 Dec 1 84:1245-1252.

Patient information: A handout on this topic is available at .

• References

Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common inflammatory arthritis, with a lifetime prevalence of up to 1 percent worldwide.1 Onset can occur at any age, but peaks between 30 and 50 years.2 Disability is common and significant. In a large U.S. cohort, 35 percent of patients with RA had work disability after 10 years.3

SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Patients with inflammatory joint disease should be referred to a rheumatology subspecialist, especially if symptoms last more than six weeks.

RA = rheumatoid arthritis.

SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE

RA = rheumatoid arthritis.

Getting Tested For Rheumatoid Arthritis

Testing for rheumatoid arthritis is ordered by a doctor or specialist if indicated by a patients symptoms. Blood and urine samples used for testing can be obtained in a doctors office or other medical setting.

Synovial fluid is a liquid that is located in spaces between a persons joints, helping to cushion ends of bones and reduce friction during movement. For a synovial fluid analysis, a sample of synovial fluid is obtained during a procedure called a joint aspiration or arthrocentesis. During a joint aspiration, a doctor uses a needle to withdraw a sample of synovial fluid from a joint.

You May Like: Can You Stop Rheumatoid Arthritis From Progressing

Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms

In the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis, it is common to feel characteristic symptoms of pain and stiffness. The specific symptoms, their severity, and timing differ in each patient and may be related to how aggressively the immune system is attacking the bodys healthy tissues.

Some of the most common RA signs and symptoms include:

• Pain and tenderness in joints for at least six consecutive weeks
• Stiffness and loss of range of motion in the joints
• Stiffness in the morning lasting at least 30 minutes and up to several hours
• Pain and soreness in one or multiple joints
• Involvement of joints on both sides of the body
• Pain and soreness in small joints like knuckles and toes

Question 1 Of : Background

Read Also: Do I Have Arthritis In My Hip

The Diagnostic Criteria For Rheumatoid Arthritis

The diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis cant be established with just one test. Instead, rheumatologists rely on a combination of your medical history, a physical exam, laboratory tests, and sometimes imaging tests to pinpoint the disease.

They also try to rule out the possibility of other conditions that may resemble RA, such as lupus, psoriatic arthritis, gout, or osteoarthritis. This is called a differential diagnosis.

To begin the diagnostic process, a rheumatologist will take your medical history, which includes asking questions about your current symptoms particularly pain, swelling, and stiffness and their location, duration, and severity.

Theyll also ask about your familys medical history as it pertains to RA and other autoimmune conditions. Conditions like RA can be more common in families with RA or other immune system-related health problems. For example, research recently published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research found that people who have a first-degree relative with RA are more than twice as likely as the general population to develop RA. A family history of lupus, scleroderma, thyroid disease, or inflammatory bowel disease also substantially increased the risk of RA.

Your rheumatologist will also perform a physical examination, testing each of your joints for things like swelling, tenderness, and limited range of motion. The location of affected joints is important to diagnosis.

The Use Of Imaging Scans In The Detection And Monitoring Of Ra

For decades, X-ray images have been used to help detect rheumatoid arthritis and to monitor for the progression of bone damage. In early RA, however, X-rays may appear normal although the disease is active making the films useful as a baseline but not much help in getting a timely diagnosis and treatment.

Enter modern imaging techniques, including ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging , which can reveal early, non-bony signs of RA that are invisible on X-ray.

Both MRI and ultrasound are more sensitive at detecting bone erosion than X-ray. In addition, they also reveal inflammation, which we could not see directly before and had to rely on blood tests and using our fingers to feel the joints, says rheumatologist Philip Conaghan, MD, PhD, professor of musculoskeletal medicine at the University of Leeds and president of the International Society for Musculoskeletal Imaging in Rheumatology.

That capability has become increasingly important with the development of ways to slow the RA disease process, before serious bone and joint damage occurs, using disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs , including biologics.

Both ultrasound and MRI can detect synovitis, inflammation of the lining of the joints, and tendon abnormalities. In addition, MRI detects areas of increased fluid in bone marrow that is a predictor for the development of bony erosions.

However valuable, Machado cautions that ultrasound is not a solo diagnostic test for rheumatoid arthritis.

Recommended Reading: Is Diclofenac Sodium Topical Gel Good For Arthritis

Theyll Praise Your Proactivity

When RA is caught and controlled early enough, you may never experience complications like joint damage or changes. Thats why its so important to see your doctor at the first signs of RAjoint pain, warmth and swelling around the wrists and knuckles, and morning stiffness that lasts for more than 15 minutes, Dr. Cohen says. You did the right thing by taking action.

What Are The 7 Diagnostic Criteria For Rheumatoid Arthritis

The seven diagnostic criteria for rheumatoid arthritis , which were defined in the year 1987 and followed until 2010 in all clinical trials, include the following:

The first four criteria must have been present for at least six weeks.

The 1987 diagnostic criteria are not in use anymore because they cannot identify patients who may have initial stage RA. Late diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis leads to delay in treatment and, subsequently, deterioration of the condition.

The seven diagnostic criteria have been replaced by the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism classification criteria for RA, which rates the signs and symptoms of the condition on a scoring system.

Also Check: What Drugs Are Used To Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis

Early Symptoms For Rheumatoid Arthritis

‘Spotting The Signs Early Will Make All The Difference…..’

• Early Symptoms For Rheumatoid Arthritis

Early symptoms for rheumatoid arthritis are many and varied they can attack at any age, in any part of the body and they have no cure.

Early diagnosis is your only route to some comfort. The quicker you catch it, the quicker you can start trying to slow its progression and continue to live a full life.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: Blood Tests For Diagnosis

• RA Diagnosis

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition that mostly affects the joints. Obtaining an RA diagnosis can feel like putting together a puzzle because this disease has symptoms that are similar to other disorders. In addition to checking your medical history and doing a physical exam, your healthcare provider may order multiple tests before diagnosing RA.

There is not a test for RA that can definitively diagnose this condition, so you may have several imaging and blood tests. The blood tests can show if your body has inflammation and is making specific proteins that are common when you have RA.

The blood tests may include:

• Rheumatoid factor

Verywell / Joshua Seong

Also Check: Does Arthritis Hurt All The Time

Theyll Order Imaging Tests

Rheumatoid arthritis impacts the lining of joints, which leads to damage of joint tissue. Your doctor may order X-rays to check for joint damage caused by RA . Sometimes, doctors order CT scans, ultrasounds or even MRIs as well. X-rays in early stages may not show the changes, caused by RA, Dr. Khan says. Ultrasound and MRI give far more information about the joint lining and whether or not the tissues around the joints are inflamed.

What Are The Symptoms Of Rheumatoid Arthritis

The symptoms of RA usually develop gradually. The first symptoms are often felt in small joints, such as your fingers and toes, although shoulders and knees can be affected early, and muscle stiffness can be a prominent early feature.

• Flare-ups: The symptoms of RA vary from person to person. They can come and go, and they may change over time. You will experience flare-ups when your symptoms will be more intense and severe.
• Pain: This is usually a throbbing and aching sort of pain. It is usually worse in the mornings and after you have been sitting still for a while.
• Stiffness: Joints affected by RA can feel stiff, especially in the morning.
• Warmth and redness: The lining of the affected joint becomes inflamed, causing the joints to swell, become hot, tender to touch and painful.

RA can also cause inflammation around the joints.

You might also experience:

• dry eyes
• chest pain

If you think you may have the symptoms of RA, its important to see a doctor because early diagnosis and correct treatment can reduce the impact of the disease. If left untreated, RA may permanently damage joints.

Read Also: Does Arthritis Pain Cause Fatigue

How Is Ra Diagnosed

RA is diagnosed by reviewing symptoms, conducting a physical examination, and doing X-rays and lab tests. Its best to diagnose RA earlywithin 6 months of the onset of symptomsso that people with the disease can begin treatment to slow or stop disease progression . Diagnosis and effective treatments, particularly treatment to suppress or control inflammation, can help reduce the damaging effects of RA.

Question 2 Of : Causes

Also Check: How To Stop Arthritis From Progressing

Quick Answers For Clinicians

The symptoms for rheumatoid arthritis are often nonspecific. Therefore, multiple conditions must be considered in the differential diagnosis of RA. Some of these conditions are , gout, and systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, mixed connective tissue disease, and Sjögren syndrome. Careful evaluation is necessary for proper diagnosis and medical management of these conditions.

Autoantibodies such as rheumatoid factor , anticitrullinated protein antibodies , and anticarbamylated protein antibodies are a distinctive feature of rheumatoid arthritis . Additionally, their presence often precedes the onset of disease symptoms, making them useful tests for RA diagnosis. Autoantibody testing may also be useful in predicting the severity of disease course. As such, autoantibody testing leads to more accurate diagnosis and prognosis and often contributes to better disease management.

Is There A Special Preparation Needed For An X

There is no special preparation required for an arthritis X-Ray. The only people who should consider are the pregnant women. The pregnant women must inform the technician about their pregnancy because the exposure to radiation may cause harm to the fetus, so it must be minimized.

At the time of X-Ray, a person should take off their jewelry before taking a test. There could be a requirement to remove some clothes, depending on the body parts to be tested. The technician will provide some something to cover the body part.

Also Check: How To Relieve Arthritis Pain In Your Hands

Assessing Your Physical Ability

If you have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, your specialist will do an assessment to see how well you’re coping with everyday tasks.

You may be asked to fill in a questionnaire on how well you can do things like dress, walk and eat, and how good your grip strength is.

This assessment may be repeated after your treatment, to see if you have made any improvements.

Further information