A rheumatoid factor test measures the amount of rheumatoid factor in your blood. Rheumatoid factors are proteins produced by your immune system that can attack healthy tissue in your body.
High levels of rheumatoid factor in the blood are most often associated with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid Arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome. But rheumatoid factor may be detected in some healthy people, and people with autoimmune diseases sometimes have normal levels of rheumatoid factor.
Results are usually reported in one of two ways:
A low number (normal result) usually means you do not have rheumatoid arthritis or Sjogren syndrome. However, some people who do have these conditions still have a "normal" or low rheumatoid factor (RF).
Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.
What Abnormal Results MeanAn abnormal result means the test is positive, which means higher levels of rheumatoid factor have been detected in your blood.Your provider may do another blood test (anti-CCP antibody) to help diagnose rheumatoid arthritis.
People with the following diseases may also have higher levels of rheumatoid factor:
Higher-than-normal levels of RF may be seen in people with other medical problems. However, these higher RF levels cannot be used to diagnose these other conditions:
Rheumatoid factor (RF or RhF) is an antibody that attacs an organism's own tissue. omos often found in About 80% of people with rheumatoid arthritis have detectable rheumatoid factor. Those who do not are said to be "seronegative".Rheumatoid factor can also be a (antibody that precipitates on cooling of a blood sample); it can be either type 2 (monoclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG) or 3 (polyclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG)
Yes, as a matter of fact you can have RA with no rheumatoid factor at all.
At this stage the reason for rheumatoid factor is still unknown.
It seems that rheumatoid factor is the only name that is used for it.
This is not known as the cause of it is unknown as well as the relationship between RF and the activity of the disease.
You can have it with or without any factor.
A rheumatoid factor over 23 units and a titer over 1:80 indicates rheumatoid arthritis, However this may also occur in other conditions.False positive results can occur when the blood is high in fats.A negative test result for rheumatoid factor does not exclude the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.
rheumatoid factor is a particular type of antibody that is found in about 80% of people have Rheumatoid arthritis as well as with other inflammatory illnesses. A negative RF simply means there is no RF in the blood.
No.
no one knows.
means a sign of inflamation level in body
It is possible to have RA without any Rheumatoid factor. This is known as seronegative RA. However if you are suspected of having RA then any RF (rheumatoid factor) helps complete the diagnosis towards the possibility of RA.