What does an elevated RH factor mean??

Hi Stutterbug,

I had my RH factor checked and at that time, it was to check for Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is an Auto Immune Disease, but here is some additional information that I found on RH Factor.


Rheumatoid factorFactor ix complex (RF) is an immunoglobulin antibody which can bind to other antibodies that can attach to normalNormal saline flush body tissue, resulting in damage. Antibodies are normalNormal saline flush proteins found in the blood which function within the immune system.
A high level of rheumatoid factor can be caused by several autoimmune diseases (including rheumatoid arthritis) and some severe infections. Occasionally an elevated level of RF is present in about 1-2% of healthy people.

Although rheumatoid arthritis is the most common reason for a rheumatoid factor (RF) level greater than 23 and a titer greater than 1 to 20, there are other reasons for a positive test. The most common are systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), scleroderma, Sj�gren's syndrome, and vasculitis. Less common conditions with high RF values include tuberculosis, mononucleosis, syphilis, leukemia, cirrhosis, chronic active hepatitis, infection of a heart valve (endocarditis), sarcoidosis, and some infections caused by a virus or parasite (such as malaria). Factors that can interfere with your test and the accuracy of the results include: Blood that is very high in fats, which may cause a falsely high rheumatoid factor (RF) result.

There are a few here with an elevated RF. Lyme Disease causes the body to misfire and in turn, our WBC attack our tissue, bones, etc. In my opinion and from things I have read and learned from this disease, I think our immune system is trying to attack and get rid of the Lyme bacteria, but it is burried so deep within our tissue, bone, muscles, etc, that it cannot reach it, so whinds up damaging our tissue, bones, muscle, etc. causing all of these Auto Immune Disease that we have.

No, Lyme Disease is not an Auto Immune Disease. It can sometimes cause the body to misfire.....causing the auto immune diseases that we have. An auto immune disease means that our own body is attacking things it is not supposed to be attacking like our bones(causing Rheumatiod Arthritis), like our thyroid(causing Hashimoto's), etc. I am not saying that this is what's happening to you, but it is very possible. I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis and no one else in my family has thyroid problems. I think that Lyme Disease caused this to happen. I think that the Lyme bacteria entered my thryoid and my immune system tried attacking it but couldn't reach it because it was too deep within my thyroid thus causing damage to my thyroid.