Abnormal Immune Test

When would I need immune testing?

Dr. Rehman orders immune testing to screen for an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are a large family of disorders that can affect any organ system in your body.

All autoimmune diseases have one thing in common: They begin when your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body.

The immune system usually destroys invaders that can cause illness and disease, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, toxins, and tumors. When you have an autoimmune disease, the immune system doesn’t recognize its own body (loss of self-tolerance) and turns against healthy tissues.

What symptoms indicate I may need immune testing?

The early symptoms of most autoimmune diseases tend to be generic. You may experience:

• Low-grade fever
• Fatigue
• Skin rashes
• Muscle aches
• Insomnia
• Joint pain and stiffness
• Digestive tract problems
• Abdominal pain

Your symptoms may be mild or severe and could come and go. Most autoimmune diseases progress slowly, causing more obvious symptoms as the disease reaches an advanced stage.

What conditions may cause an abnormal immune test?

Autoimmune diseases may affect one organ or multiple body areas, including your joints, muscles, skin, kidney, liver, lungs, skin, and digestive tract.

These are only a few of the many autoimmune diseases Dr. Rehman diagnoses and treats:

• Lupus
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Vasculitis
• Myositis
• Psoriasis
• Celiac disease
• Sjögren’s syndrome

After one autoimmune disease develops, you have a higher risk of developing others.

What happens if I get an abnormal immune test?

Autoimmune diseases are incredibly complex, making them challenging to diagnose. Additionally, interpreting immune testing is complicated. If you have an abnormal immune test, it reveals one part of the diagnostic puzzle by verifying the presence of biomarkers indicating disease.

In many cases, you will need more than one diagnostic test, including more than one immune test. Dr. Lehman uses his expertise to make sense of all your diagnostics. After analyzing and interpreting your test results and considering your symptoms, he diagnoses the condition.

Dr. Lehman also collaborates with your primary care physician to determine the optimal treatment approach for your unique health care needs. 

Whether you need testing or have already had an abnormal immune test and want to know more about what it means, you can get the help you need at the Rheumatology Clinic of Houston. Call or request an appointment online today.

Notes: Your doctor may decide to do an immune test to screen you for autoimmune disease. Autoimmune Diseases are a large family of disorders that affect virtually any organ system in your body with the underlying pathology that your immune system, instead of turning and attacking invading infectious agents or tumor cells, is now attacking your own tissue. This happens when immune system loses "self-tolerance". These disease are complex and the interpretation of the tests is complicated. We can make sense of it all and work with your primary care doctor to analyze and interpret them. We also specialize in the diagnosis, treatment and management of these complex disease and their treatment. Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Vasculitis, and Myositis are just to name a few of these examples.