What Does a Positive Quantitative Test for Antinuclear Antibodies Mean?
Antinuclear antibody testing is a screening examination for rheumatic diseases. A positive antinuclear antibody test may indicate the presence of rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and systemic vasculitis. Based on the clinical manifestations of the patient, further relevant tests need to be conducted, including autoantibody series, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies, anti-keratin antibodies, four vasculitis tests, and anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies, to clarify the current condition and receive standardized treatment. If the patient has no clinical symptoms, general observation is sufficient, and no special medication is required. Rheumatic diseases are mainly treated based on the principle of combining traditional Chinese and Western medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is recommended to adopt oral administration of Chinese herbal medicine and external application of Chinese medicine based on syndrome differentiation and treatment. Additionally, external treatment methods of traditional Chinese medicine can be used, such as acupuncture, scraping therapy, bloodletting, acupoint injection, acupoint embedding, and ozone acupoint injection, to achieve the effects of relieving inflammation and pain, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, dredging meridians, clearing heat and removing dampness, and quickly alleviating symptoms. Western medicine mainly employs anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, such as diclofenac sodium sustained-release tablets, meloxicam tablets, flurbiprofen gel patches, and indomethacin gel patches, which can quickly relieve inflammation, pain, and symptoms.
