Test

[sezrill]

Does anyone know what blood test (the name) to have to see if your a carrier of lupus?

[esky]

Hi

The test I have is ANA autoantibody test. It is not definative for lupus thought. U could have a positive ANA and not have lupus x

[farmerfester]

You either have lupus or not you can't carry lupus and pass it on it is not contagious g

[misty14]

Hi Sezrill

After having the ANA test, there are several auto-antibody blood tests you can have that are more specific for Lupus. Diagnosis can be hard!.X

[dgleds]

I think only 5 percent hereditary factor...super low

[lupie46]

Its genetic, but not hereditary, you can't "carry" it. You have it or you don't.

[IrishLupie]

Lupus can be passed on from parent to child but just having a genetic predisposition towards the development of Lupus doesn't actually significantly increase your chances of developing it. Lupus is what's known as a multigenic disorder. It takes numerous genes of the right kind to be switched on/off to start the Lupus ball rolling. As such there are probably genetic tests but because of it's multigenic nature I'm not sure there's just one, it may be many tests.

[gazorpf]

There is no test. Lupus is not directly hereditary, so you can not be a "carrier." Quite a few genes have been found that can, in the right combination, PREDISPOSE a person to develop an autoimmune disease like lupus. That said, if you have lupus, your child has a very, very slightly greater chance of developing the disease. There are studies of genetically identical twins in which scientists have found that one develops lupus and the other does not. I know two sets of twins personally in which this is the case.

A person can be genetically predispose to develop lupus, yet never develop the disease. Triggers have to turn on the autoimmune switch. Stress, cigarette smoke, ultraviolet light (A and B), and possibly the Epstein Barr virus are strong suspects.

Even if you could tell if your child might have an ever so slightly greater risk of developing lupus, there is no way you can prevent that from happening. Testing would involve extremely expensive genetic testing and would not be definitive anyway. And if you and your child knew that there was a chance that lupus could develop, the only thing that would do is increase worry and stress, thereby increasing the risk of developing the disease.

[Betty1984]

I've been told by my rheumy if ana comes back clear and other lupus blood tests. She tends to think it's not lupus and rule it out