Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis
Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis
Is a type of rheumatoid arthritis where the blood doesn’t contain Rheumatoid Factor (RF or RhF).
Rheumatoid Factor – RF is a type of antibody that can be measured in your blood. This is the antibody that can actually bind to other antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that are normally in our blood and important to the immune system. RF is an antibody that is usually not present in normal situations.
By testing for Rheumatoid Factor in the blood, this is the most common way of diagnosing the presence of Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis. Testing for RF is not the only way but the most common. Even though you may test negative for it, several other tests are needed to verify. Let’s go over some of those:
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) – also called a sedimentation rate or Biernacki Reaction, is performed by placing blood that is not coagulated into an upright tube called a Westergren tube, and the rate that the red blood cells fall is measured and reported.
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complete blood count (CBC) – also known as full blood count (FBC) or full blood exam (FBE) or blood panel, will give the information about the patient’s blood cells
C-reactive protein (CRP) – is a type of protein found in the blood and will rise if there is inflammation
antinuclear antibodies – are present in higher than normal numbers in the case of an autoimmune disease
Performing multiple tests are common since just one can’t always give a definite diagnosis of this disease that is most common in men.
Signs / Symptoms of Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis
Tenderness
Pain
Swelling of the joints
Flu like symptoms
Stiffness in the morning
Muscle pain
Movement is limited
Most of the common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include weakness, fatigue, and just general stiffness all over the body. After a night’s rest or sitting for a while, the disease has a tendency to flare up, especially in the morning. When there is a flare, movement of the joints is painful and limited mostly in the ankles, wrists, and back.
The treatment of seronegative rheumatoid arthritis consists mainly of taking measures of treating the symptoms and to make things for comfortable. Unfortunately, the most common treatment is using a combination of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and prescription pain medications. The only reason I say unfortunately is because most people tend to take the easy way and only rely on medications to help them when changing some of your day to day actions and diets works wonders. A diet that is mainly of fast food, high stress, and little exercise are some of the major factors that contribute to this condition. A couple of quick tips would be to see a massage therapist to help reduce your stress and cold ice packs to help reduce inflammation.
By maintaining a better diet, you can greatly reduce the amount of inflammation levels in the body. Not saying that you can get rid of it completely nor is there one single food that can magically abolish your symptoms, but this along with a few lifestyle changes and dramatic improvements can be seen.
Here are some of the top foods that are needed to your seronegative rheumatoid arthritis diet:
Avocados
Soy milk
Tofu
Cold water fish (herring, salmon, and other sources of Omega 3 fatty acids)
Green leafy vegetables (except spinach)
Walnuts
Flax seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Grapes, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries (organic)
10. Brown rice
11. Seaweed
12. Wheat grass
We’ll go over the diet and exercises more in other seronegative rheumatoid arthritis articles so that we can expand out and actually give you a printout you can use.
Related Rheumatoid Arthritis articles:
What is rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis Prognosis
Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms
Rheumatoid Arthritis Diet
Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis
The stages of rheumatoid arthritis
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