RHEUMATOID FACTOR

RHEUMATOID FACTOR, RF

Rheumatoid factor (RF) is a protein made by your immune system that can attack healthy tissue in your body. Healthy people don’t make RF. So, the presence of RF in your blood can indicate that you have an autoimmune disease.

A positive test means that RF is present in your blood. A positive test can be found in 80 percent of people with rheumatoid arthritis. The titer level of the RF typically indicates the severity of the disease, and RF can also be seen in other immune diseases such as lupus and Sjogren’s.

Higher levels of RF can also occur in other conditions, and a small percentage of people without a medical condition, though the exact reason for this is uncertain.Autoantibodies can also occur as part of the natural aging process.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and destructive autoimmune disorder in which a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks their own joint tissue, causing painful swelling, stiffness, and decreased joint mobility. This causes inflammation in the synovium, a layer of soft tissue on the joints’ inner surface.