My Neurologist Did Blood Work And It Showed Borderline Lupus. Can You Explain In Layman Terms How He Got That?

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Holley Durham Profile
Holley Durham answered
Hi, I was diagnosed with Lupus in 1986.  He probably did a standard blood test that measures antibodies in your blood called an RA/ANA test.  That stands for rheumatoid arthritis and antinuclear antibody test.  This test shows how many times your blood must be diluted with saline solution before there are no antibodies present.  For example a titer (which is the term that they use to describe the result of the test) of 1/320 means that your blood has to be diluted 320 times before there are no antibodies found.  That is a low titer, which is probably what he meant by borderline.  Many things can cause a false positive to this test.  There are more specific tests that can be performed that can differentiate this and rule in or rule out Lupus conclusively.  My advice would be to talk to your doctor and let him know that you would like him to explain it to you further.  He may even recommend that you see a rheumatologist which is a doctor that specializes in the treatment of Lupus.  But put it back on your doctor to make sure you understand what you should do.  Hope this helps and good luck with everything.
Jacquelyn Mathis Profile
You need to listen to your doctor about what he/she tells you about this. Go to www.wikipedia.org and type it in there, there is information there that you will find valuable. Hope this helps, good luck to you.

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