Wednesday, September 15, 2010
ANA Results?
Anyone out there know anything about a positive ANA result in the 30s (normal around 7)? Looking for info for my good friend who just got this result with her first infertility panel so please comment below or leave a link to a post if you know anything about it/have experience with it. Her doctor is referring her so she wasn't given very much information and google can be scary at times. Thanks!!
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6 comments:
Well, ANA is antinuclear antibodies-typically present in an autoimmune disorder like lupus, and in my case, Sjogren's Syndrome. What are the docs saying re: the ANA??
it's a nonspecific sign in the extreme - without more info about any recent illnesses, symptoms, family history, etc, it's almost meaningless. if things indicate a possible autoimmune issue, they would need to do quite a few more tests to narrow it down. there are plenty of scary things that can cause an increased ANA, but it can also be high for no reason/totally harmless reason.
I have elevated ANAs with no autoimmune disorder (I believe my initial result was 40, and normal is >8). My dad had rheumatoid arthritis, which is probably why I have elevated ANAs. That was the only issue I had and appears to have caused my miscarriages. I had a successful pregnancy after a heparin/aspirin regimen.
My RE said nothing about the ANAs other than they could cause my immune system to attack a baby as a foreign body. My OB and MFM talked about lupus and other autoimmune diseases, but never pursued anything, since I have no symptoms of any disease. Feel free to email me with any more questions - there's a small possibility I might be able to come up with some answers. :)
I have a positive ANA of 1:320. Unless there are other signs and symptoms of autoimmune disease, it doesn't necessarily mean there is autoimmune disease present. For myself, I DO have many symptoms. I am currently pregnant, and see a perinatologist, who told me women with autoimmune disease are at a higher risk of preeclampsia and IUGR. He had me start a baby aspirin as soon as my positive test. I'm not sure he would treat a positive ANA that is absent other autoimmune symptoms, but there are other labs that, if positive, could adversely impact an achieved pregnancy, like anti-phospholipids, and lupus related anti-SSA and anti-SSB. If those haven't been tested, I would recommend bringing that up.
An ANA ratio of less than 1:40 is cponsidere3d normal. http://www.medicinenet.com/antinuclear_antibody/page3.htm
My mom and I both had high ANA results. I was the result of surprise but joyful pregnancy when my mom was 35, after 15 years TTC. I am 6 weeks pregnant after my first IVF - I have major endometriosis besides the high ANA. I'm on heparin and baby aspirin but I am also positive for antiphospholipid antibodies. High ANA isn't good, but it isn't necessarily bad either. I think ANA elevates the risk of miscarriage but progesterone (as well as heparin and aspirin) reduce that risk.
My doctor blogs at http://www.fertilitypartnership.com/Dr.-Simckes-Blog.html if you're interested.
I'm sorry I can't help you with that, but it sounds liek the others have given you some useful inforation. I just wanted to say I've tagged you with a blogger award http://bernardeena.blogspot.com/2010/09/ive-been-tagged.html
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