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What Does A Low Positive ANA Test Result Indicate?
Question: This question is for a neurologist.
I have VERY severe health anxiety -- to the point of clinical hypochondriasis. I do recognize that about myself, and yet, in addition, I have an autoimmune condition, which has been with me for just over 11 years, and which has never been definitively diagnosed. (Low positive A.N.A. test that came back negative the second time.)
I'm a 45-year-old male. I'm fit and show no ostensible signs of illness. I work an exceptionally demanding bartending job, which requires me to work 11-to-13 hour shifts straight through. I'm also the manager of this jazz lounge, and so I'm working between 50 and 65 hours per week -- every week. I've been doing this the past 5 years with only one vacation in that time.
I've long had mild cognitive issues, ever since the onset of my initial illness, but over the course of the past three years, I've notice an increase in those cognitive issues. No one else, including my wife, seems to notice anything. I'm obsessed that I'm developing some sort of dementia, even though I've been reassured by several doctors that it is not that. And yet I've been seeing more articles about how mild cognitive problems, even in young(ish) people, are possibly early warning signs. My question is this:
Am I fated to develop some form of dementia, or is there something I can do about it?
How much of a factor is stress?
Are psychogenic symptoms possible for this sort of thing?
Thank you for your time.
I have VERY severe health anxiety -- to the point of clinical hypochondriasis. I do recognize that about myself, and yet, in addition, I have an autoimmune condition, which has been with me for just over 11 years, and which has never been definitively diagnosed. (Low positive A.N.A. test that came back negative the second time.)
I'm a 45-year-old male. I'm fit and show no ostensible signs of illness. I work an exceptionally demanding bartending job, which requires me to work 11-to-13 hour shifts straight through. I'm also the manager of this jazz lounge, and so I'm working between 50 and 65 hours per week -- every week. I've been doing this the past 5 years with only one vacation in that time.
I've long had mild cognitive issues, ever since the onset of my initial illness, but over the course of the past three years, I've notice an increase in those cognitive issues. No one else, including my wife, seems to notice anything. I'm obsessed that I'm developing some sort of dementia, even though I've been reassured by several doctors that it is not that. And yet I've been seeing more articles about how mild cognitive problems, even in young(ish) people, are possibly early warning signs. My question is this:
Am I fated to develop some form of dementia, or is there something I can do about it?
How much of a factor is stress?
Are psychogenic symptoms possible for this sort of thing?
Thank you for your time.
Brief Answer:
ANA are not a condition, no dementia, anxiety major factor.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I am sorry about the distress you are experiencing.
You refer to this condition but it seems that by that you mean your positive ANA test. If that is the case I wouldn't say you have a condition at all in the absence of other signs. The antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are present in 5% of normal, healthy people without an autoimmune disease so their positivity means something only when there are clinical signs of an autoimmune disease. The fact that the second test came back negative makes that positive result even less significant...do you really want to mark yourself with a diagnosis because of a laboratory false positive?
As for the cognitive impairment that is a very subjective term as each of us has had moments of seemingly forgetting something. For that reason there exist standardized tests, questionnaires, to evaluate that sort of thing. The most common is MMSE (mini mental state exam) but there are others which go more in depth. Only if there are alterations there cognitive impairment is considered.
Even then factors affecting test results must be taken into account and anxiety is a universally accepted factor can alter test results in the absence of any cognitive impairment.
So you are certainly not fated to develop dementia and your anxiety could certainly be a factor.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
ANA are not a condition, no dementia, anxiety major factor.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I am sorry about the distress you are experiencing.
You refer to this condition but it seems that by that you mean your positive ANA test. If that is the case I wouldn't say you have a condition at all in the absence of other signs. The antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are present in 5% of normal, healthy people without an autoimmune disease so their positivity means something only when there are clinical signs of an autoimmune disease. The fact that the second test came back negative makes that positive result even less significant...do you really want to mark yourself with a diagnosis because of a laboratory false positive?
As for the cognitive impairment that is a very subjective term as each of us has had moments of seemingly forgetting something. For that reason there exist standardized tests, questionnaires, to evaluate that sort of thing. The most common is MMSE (mini mental state exam) but there are others which go more in depth. Only if there are alterations there cognitive impairment is considered.
Even then factors affecting test results must be taken into account and anxiety is a universally accepted factor can alter test results in the absence of any cognitive impairment.
So you are certainly not fated to develop dementia and your anxiety could certainly be a factor.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank-you very much indeed. I really appreciate your expertise.
Brief Answer:
You're welcome.
Detailed Answer:
Glad to have been of help.
You're welcome.
Detailed Answer:
Glad to have been of help.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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