Blood test for rheumatism | How to recognize rheumatism?

Blood test for rheumatism

In general, the blood test is a diagnostic component that makes an important contribution to the detection of a rheumatic disease. In the following, certain parameters are presented which, when changed, can be indicative of rheumatism. It is important that the parameters are always considered in combination and not each individually, as some of them also increase or decrease in other diseases or infections, i.e. are not specifically suitable for the diagnosis of rheumatism.

• BSG: BSG is the abbreviation for blood sedimentation rate. An increased BSG is caused by inflammatory processes, among other things. This is the case with rheumatic diseases, but also other autoimmune diseases, infections caused by bacteria/viruses or the intake of certain drugs.

  Thus, an increased SPA is a non-specific parameter in the diagnosis of rheumatoid joint inflammation.

• C-reactive protein (CRP): C-reactive protein is one of the most important parameters for the assessment of acute inflammation in the body. In such cases, it is produced by the liver and is able to trigger certain defense mechanisms in the body. In autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, this is not intentional, as the body attacks and destroys itself.

  An elevated CRP in the blood reflects the inflammatory processes within the joints, but can also be elevated in the context of other autoimmune diseases and especially in bacterial infections. Like the blood sedimentation rate (BSG), it is therefore one of the non-specific blood parameters in the detection of rheumatism. The CRP value is primarily used to diagnose an acute inflammatory event within the body without differentiating between an infectious (bacteria, viruses) or non-infectious (rheumatism, other autoimmune diseases) cause.

  A rough estimate of the severity of the disease is also possible with the help of this parameter.

• Rheumatoid factor: The rheumatoid factor is an antibody that is directed against the body’s own antibodies in the course of an autoimmune disease. For this reason it is also called “autoantibody” (directed against the body’s own components). In 70% of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, this antibody can be detected in the blood.

  They are “rheumatoid factor positive”. There is no correlation between the amount of rheumatoid factor in the blood and disease activity. A high rheumatoid factor does not mean that the illness must be particularly bad at the given time.

  If the rheumatism factor in the blood is proven this is paradoxically not immediately proving for the fact that a rheumatic illness is present.

• CCP antibody: The presence of this antibody in the blood is a specific marker for rheumatoid arthritis and correlates with the disease process. In contrast to the rheumatoid factor, the CCP antibody, which is also referred to as ACPA in laboratory diagnostics, is not also present in the blood in other diseases, i.e. it is specifically used for the detection and identification of rheumatism. The antibody can also be used to classify the severity of rheumatoid arthritis and to draw conclusions about the course of the rheumatoid joint disease. They can be detected 10 years before the onset of the first symptoms, such as swelling or pain in the blood.