What Does an Anti CCP Blood Test Tell You
Our body’s immune system makes two types of proteins which we call antibodies and auto antibodies.
Antibodies protect our body from diseases caused by external invaders like bacteria, viruses, etc.
While auto antibodies attack the healthy cells of our body and start damaging them or causing disease.
Auto antibodies mistake the healthy cells of our body as invaders. The disease caused by this is called autoimmune disease.
Anti-CCP (Anti Cyclic Citrullinated peptides) is a type of auto antibodies that attacks and damages the healthy cells of our body.
When our body’s immune system starts making antibodies against our body’s CCP i.e. cyclic citrullinated peptides, then it becomes an autoimmune disease which we call Rheumatoid Arthritis RA.
The Anti CCP test is the best predictor of rheumatoid arthritis.
The doctor gets the Anti-CCP test done to detect rheumatoid arthritis. The value of this test indicates the severity of rheumatoid arthritis.
What Does the Anti CCP Blood Test Result Tell
When the doctor feels that you may have Rheumatoid Arthritis, then he writes you Anti-CCP and RA tests. ,
If your Anti-CCP and RA tests both come positive, then it means that you have rheumatoid arthritis and it will increase further.
If your Anti-CCP test comes positive and your Rheumatoid Arthritis RA test negative then it means that you have a very high chance that you may have Rheumatoid Arthritis or you are in the early stages of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
If your Anti-CCP comes negative and Rheumatoid Arthritis RA comes positive then it means that the doctor will decide according to your symptoms whether you have Rheumatoid Arthritis or not.
If your anti-CCP test and rheumatoid arthritis RA both come negative, then it means that you do not have rheumatoid arthritis. But arthritis can happen.
Symptoms of Positive Anti-CCP Blood Test
An Anti-CCP test is done to detect Rheumatoid Arthritis. If you have the problems written below, then you must get the Anti-CCP test done.
1) Joint pain
2) Stiffness in joints
3) Swelling of joints
4) Fatigue
5) Mild fever
Anti CCP Blood Test Normal Range
The test is negative if your Anti CCP is less than 7 U/mL
If your Anti-CCP is between 7 to 10 then your result is weakly positive.
If your Anti-CCP is above 10 then your result is positive.
If your Anti-CCP is above 30 then your result is strongly positive.
Negative Anti-CCP means that there are no antibodies in your body.
Should Anti CCP Blood Test be Done on an Empty Stomach
You can get an Anti-CCP test done anytime, there is no need to have an empty stomach for this.
If you are taking any medicines or multivitamins, do not take anything for 8 hours before the test. Otherwise, it may affect the result of the test.
Should Any Other Test be Done Along With the Anti CCP Blood Test
Whenever you get the Anti-CCP test done, also get an ESR, Rheumatoid Factor RF, CRP, ANA, and X-Ray test of your joint done.
With the help of these tests, the doctor can reach a correct conclusion and it will be easier to treat him.
