Brief Answer:
Some blood tests for arthritis may come out altered in elderly- kindly upload the lab report so I can evaluate the clinical importance of these blood results in your case

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to "Ask a Doctor" service,

I carefully read your query.

There are several indexes that blood tests can check and this is the case with arthritis as well. Doctors may check ERS, CRP, RF and many others to evaluate a patient with arthritis.
It is important for us to know which index you are worried about. I would encourage you to, if possible, upload the blood tests you are talking about so I can further evaluate them.

I would like to stress that with age some indexes of inflammation may rise and in the elderly, they may be found normally high. This is the case, especially with the ERS. Also, there are other factors that may cause blood tests for arthritis to be high.

To conclude:
- kindly upload the lab results so I can better evaluate them and further assist you
- there are many factors that cause a rise in the blood tests for arthritis, age is one of them
- if you have any symptoms (pain, swelling, stiffness, deformity) of joints this would be very important information for us to have

I hope this is helpful. I remain at your disposal for further medical assistance.

Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj
General and Family Physician

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Brief Answer:
Some blood tests for arthritis may come out altered in elderly- kindly upload the lab report so I can evaluate the clinical importance of these blood results in your case

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to "Ask a Doctor" service,

I carefully read your query.

There are several indexes that blood tests can check and this is the case with arthritis as well. Doctors may check ERS, CRP, RF and many others to evaluate a patient with arthritis.
It is important for us to know which index you are worried about. I would encourage you to, if possible, upload the blood tests you are talking about so I can further evaluate them.

I would like to stress that with age some indexes of inflammation may rise and in the elderly, they may be found normally high. This is the case, especially with the ERS. Also, there are other factors that may cause blood tests for arthritis to be high.

To conclude:
- kindly upload the lab results so I can better evaluate them and further assist you
- there are many factors that cause a rise in the blood tests for arthritis, age is one of them
- if you have any symptoms (pain, swelling, stiffness, deformity) of joints this would be very important information for us to have

I hope this is helpful. I remain at your disposal for further medical assistance.

Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj
General and Family Physician

---

Brief Answer:
Detailed explanation of the results below

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome back,

Thank you for the reply and the uploaded lab results.

As I noticed both CRP and ERS are higher than the normal range. Both of these indexes may increase with age and also may indicate that your body is fighting something.

Sedimentation (ERS) can go significantly high with age. in your case, the upper-level normal rate would be 91+10/2= 50.5. This means that the sediment (ERS) of 52 in your case is not a major change from the normal level for your age.

CRP can be up to 4 mg/dl in your age group and in your case, it is 20.8 mg/dl. This means it is clearly much higher than it is expected for your age group. So, other reasons should be considered. It is important in your case to know if you have any symptoms such as pain, cough, urinary symptoms, skin lesions, any unexplained weight loss or fatigue... etc.

The lab results should be always interpreted with the clinical presentation of the patient.
CRP can be increased in infections such as lung, urinary, skin infections and in a few cases even in the case of viral infections which are mostly self-limiting. Immune conditions and arthritis may also cause the CRP to increase but they are not the only causes and not the most common ones.
Rarely, a malignant disease can be the cause.

To conclude:
- interpretation of lab results should be always interpreted based on the symptoms of the patient so it is important for us to know if you are complaining of anything
- ERS (sediment) rate is increased but this falls very close to the normal range for your age group and I would not be worried about it
- CRP is also affected by age and an index that your body is fighting something which may be as simple as a viral infection or important conditions such as lung or urinary infections, immune diseases and even tumors.
- if you have no cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, fever, urinary symptoms, skin lesions, no weight loss or fatigue and you are not feeling unwell then I would recommend you to just have CRP checked again in a week or two to see if it is going down or not.
- if you have any of the above symptoms you will need to do further tests to rule out infection, immune conditions or tumors as the cause of the raised CRP.

I hope this is helpful. I remain at your disposal for further medical assistance.

Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj
General and Family Physician

---

Brief Answer:
Detailed explanation of the results below

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome back,

Thank you for the reply and the uploaded lab results.

As I noticed both CRP and ERS are higher than the normal range. Both of these indexes may increase with age and also may indicate that your body is fighting something.

Sedimentation (ERS) can go significantly high with age. in your case, the upper-level normal rate would be 91+10/2= 50.5. This means that the sediment (ERS) of 52 in your case is not a major change from the normal level for your age.

CRP can be up to 4 mg/dl in your age group and in your case, it is 20.8 mg/dl. This means it is clearly much higher than it is expected for your age group. So, other reasons should be considered. It is important in your case to know if you have any symptoms such as pain, cough, urinary symptoms, skin lesions, any unexplained weight loss or fatigue... etc.

The lab results should be always interpreted with the clinical presentation of the patient.
CRP can be increased in infections such as lung, urinary, skin infections and in a few cases even in the case of viral infections which are mostly self-limiting. Immune conditions and arthritis may also cause the CRP to increase but they are not the only causes and not the most common ones.
Rarely, a malignant disease can be the cause.

To conclude:
- interpretation of lab results should be always interpreted based on the symptoms of the patient so it is important for us to know if you are complaining of anything
- ERS (sediment) rate is increased but this falls very close to the normal range for your age group and I would not be worried about it
- CRP is also affected by age and an index that your body is fighting something which may be as simple as a viral infection or important conditions such as lung or urinary infections, immune diseases and even tumors.
- if you have no cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, fever, urinary symptoms, skin lesions, no weight loss or fatigue and you are not feeling unwell then I would recommend you to just have CRP checked again in a week or two to see if it is going down or not.
- if you have any of the above symptoms you will need to do further tests to rule out infection, immune conditions or tumors as the cause of the raised CRP.

I hope this is helpful. I remain at your disposal for further medical assistance.

Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj
General and Family Physician

---

Brief Answer:
I am glad the results came back normal

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome back,

Thank you for the reply and the follow-up with the new results.
I am glad the results this time came out normal and there is nothing to worry about.

It is my pleasure to assist you, I remain at your disposal in case further medical assistance is needed.

Wish you good health.

Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj

---

Brief Answer:
I am glad the results came back normal

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome back,

Thank you for the reply and the follow-up with the new results.
I am glad the results this time came out normal and there is nothing to worry about.

It is my pleasure to assist you, I remain at your disposal in case further medical assistance is needed.

Wish you good health.

Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj

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