Do You Need This RA Test?

What your doctor – and you – can learn from different lab tests.

- Emily Delzell

If you have rheumatoid arthritis(RA), your rheumatologist may conduct different types of tests to gauge your disease activity and see how well your medications are working. These results give your doctor information that guides treatment decisions.

One mode of testing looks at your blood for biomarkers of inflammation linked to RA. Most biomarker tests look at only one factor, such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR or “sed rate”) or C-reactive protein (CRP) level. A relatively new test called the multibiomarker disease activity (MBDA, called Vectra DA commercially) test checks 12 proteins, hormones and growth factors linked to RA. About 50 percent of rheumatologists in the U.S. have used it, according to a spokesperson for the manufacturer, Crescendo Bioscience.

But do more measurements provide more insight? Sometimes.

When Could MBDA Help?