Diagnosing RA • Medical history and physical exam: to establish possible genetic links / risks & check for joint inflammation and typical signs • Blood tests: elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) w/ RA and immunological studies look for: • rheumatoid factors (non-specific antibodies), but negative RF does not rule out RA -- 15-20% are seronegative. RF is usually negative early in disease, plus it’s found in 10% of healthy population and other conditions: Sjögren's syndrome, Hepatitis C and some other chroni ...   read more