Direct-to-Consumer Rheumatology Tests: A Breakthrough in Personalized Medicine

The Challenge of Early Detection in Rheumatology

Rheumatologic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and ankylosing spondylitis start slowly but can go quickly if not recognized. Effective management with an early diagnosis is achieved but is challenging. Many conditions share symptoms such as joint pain, stiffness, and fatigue making accurate diagnosis difficult and often missing or delaying key treatment opportunities. It’s well known that traditional diagnostic methods can be dependent on costly specialist referrals, complete imaging, and laboratory tests to detect the early warning signs of disease and therefore may not always be readily available or sensitive enough.

The Promise of Direct-to-Consumer Tests

In order to combat these challenges, direct to consumer (DTC) rheumatology tests have sprung up as a niche in personalized medicine. These tests are online and don’t require a doctor’s referral to screen for specific biomarker of inflammation and autoimmune activity. As an example, DTC tests might be used to measure C reactive protein (CRP), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti CCP) antibodies, or rheumatoid factor (RF) levels that are markers of rheumatologic conditions. Early detection…