The diagnostic puzzle for RARheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the chronic inflammation of your joints. The condition affects around 1.3 million adults in the United States, according to the American College of Rheumatology. RA resembles a number of other disorders and conditions. That’s why it often takes time to diagnose.If you have morning stiffness and pain in symmetrical joints, you and your doctor have some detective work to do. You could have:RAosteoarthritiscancerOr, simply, you may have a bad mattress. The role of blood testsBlood tests don’t provide a simple yes-or-no answer to whether you have RA. But they can help your doctor steer toward a diagnosis. Blood tests narrow down options and suggest how your disease might progress.After you receive a diagnosis of RA, continued blood tests will monitor the side effects of drugs used in treatment. They can also help track the progression of the disorder. The diagnostic testsOnce you leave a sample of your blood at the lab, it may be che...
