Blood Test Results Showed High Rheumatoid Factor. Family History Of Lupus. Reason?

Posted on Sat, 2 Mar 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 2 Mar 2013 Answered on

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : My brother recently went to the doctor and was told that his blood test results showed a rhumatoid factor of 60. Apparently this is very high. He is only 30 and has no syptoms of rhumatoid arthritis.He is however very thin depite eating a balanced diet. Could there be any other causes ?
Our mother has lupus, so I wondered whether there could be a connection?

Answered by Dr. Pravin Banodkar (9 minutes later)

Hello
Thanks for the query posted. I would be pleased to answer your question .

Yes , Autoimmune connective tissue diseases do have a hereditary pathogenesis. The fact that his Rheumatoid Factor is high it makes him prone to the arthritis in the years ahead . He should monitor his levels closely every 6 months and look out for symptoms like pain or stiffness in the joints.
Please make sure he should be educated about the importance of Physical exercise and intake of Vitamin D and Calcium.
Thanks and Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Pravin Banodkar (47 minutes later)

Thank you. Do you think this could be linked to another autoimmune disease? What types of physical excercise would be best suited?

Kind regards

Answered by Dr. Pravin Banodkar (29 minutes later)

Yes , it can be linked to other auto immune disorders.
A thorough blood investigation would give the correct linkage .
Physical exercise like daily walking stretching would be good enough.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar