Rheumatoid arthritis can be quite difficult in order to diagnose. This is because many other conditions resemble it and its symptoms also tend to develop insidiously. Blood tests as well as x-rays may continue to show normal results for months even after the onset of joint pain. Even after rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis has been done, it is important to determine in case the course of the disease is benign or is it aggressive to be able treat the problem appropriately.
Specific findings or presentation suggest that rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis includes morning stiffness, besides involvement of three joints at the same time, as well as involvement of both sides of the body, subcutaneous nodules, and positive rheumatoid factor, changes in x-rays.
Various blood tests may be used for rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis in order to determine its severity, as well as detect complications of the disease. In RA, antibodies which collect in the synovium of the joint are also known as the rheumatoid factor. Blood tests reveal this rheumatoid factor, which can also show up in blood tests of people having other diseases. But in case it appears in patients having arthritic pain on both sides of the body, it can be a strong indicator of type 2 RA. The presence of rheumatoid factor besides the evidence of bone damage on x-rays too suggests a significant chance for all kinds of progressive joint damage.
An erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) for Rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis measures how fast red blood cells fall to the bottom of a fine glass tube which is filled with the blood of the patient. The higher the rate, the greater will be the inflammation. However, the ESR rate can be high in various other conditions ranging from infection, to inflammation to even tumors. The test is thus used, not for diagnosis, but in order to help determine how active the condition is.