Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA)

What To Think About

• Autoimmune diseases can't be diagnosed by the results of the ANA test alone. A complete medical history, physical examination, and the results of other tests are used with the ANA test to help identify autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or rheumatoid arthritis.
• Some healthy people can have an increased amount of ANA in their blood. For instance, this can happen in some people with a family history of autoimmune disease. The higher the ANA level is, though, the more likely it is that the person has an autoimmune disease.
• ANA levels can increase as a person ages.

Other Works Consulted

• 
  Fischbach FT, Dunning MB III, eds. (2009). Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests, 8th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
  
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  Pagana KD, Pagana TJ (2010). Mosby’s Manual of Diagnostic and Laboratory Tests, 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier.