Blood test may predict rheumatoid arthritis:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
A blood test may predict the likelihood that at-risk patients will go on to develop arthritis, report Dutch researchers. A team at Leiden University Medical Centre tested 936 patients with undifferentiated arthritis for the presence of antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptides (CCP). Three years later 93% of the patients who tested positive for CCP had developed rheumatoid arthritis. Speaking at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific meeting in Orlando, Florida, this month, lead researcher Dr Floris van Gaalen said the team was currently investigating whether using this information to treat patients earlier could help prevent the disease.