Researchers are working to develop a better diagnostic test for arthritis.

Researchers are always working to better understand the different types of arthritis, as well as how to diagnose, treat and prevent them. Here, we'll look at three new studies that deal with diagnosis, rheumatoid arthritis treatment and the risk of developing an autoimmune condition.

New test could help doctors diagnose arthritis earlier and more accurately

A new blood test may be able to diagnose early-stage arthritis as many as 10 years before current tests can do so, according to the website of England’s National Health Service, NHS. A study published in nature.com Scientific Reports attempted to determine whether looking at protein markers could help distinguish between early-stage osteoarthritis and early-stage rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis has no blood test at present, which means arthritis symptoms and visual examinations like X-rays are the best way doctors have to diagnose it. If the test used in this research proves accurate and viable over further studies, it could help people learn they have osteoarthritis before visible joint damage occurs. Researchers found they were able to distinguish between people with early osteoarthritis, early rheumatoid arthritis, early non-rheumatoid inflammatory arthritis and healthy joints with the test, which examines the presence of three different proteins in the blood and the fluid of the joints.

The NHS points out that further study is needed to determine whether this test is accurate - and, if so, whether using it will lead to better treatment outcomes in those who are diagnosed in this way.

Low vitamin D in early RA linked to increased disease activity

Research published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders indicates vitamin D deficiency may help to predict disease progression and treatment response in people with rheumatoid arthritis. Scientists followed a group of people newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis for a full year, measuring important markers of disease activity at baseline and follow-up. The researchers also measured vitamin D levels, and noted which patients had deficiencies in this important vitamin. Those that had low vitamin D were more likely to experience high disease activity, less likely to see remission and less likely to respond well to treatment at the 12-month mark, according to the published results. The researchers concluded that it may be important for doctors to monitor their rheumatoid arthritis patients' vitamin D levels, and perhaps to supplement vitamin D in those patients who have recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and are deficient in it.

Ground Zero recovery workers could have higher RA risk

A new study suggests people who worked at the World Trade Center site just after September 11, 2001, may be at a higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. Firefighters and other recovery workers had their odds of being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis rise 13 percent for each month they spent working at Ground Zero. The researchers believe that it's likely toxin exposure played a role in these odds, though they are not sure which toxins in particular could raise the risk of an autoimmune diagnosis, according to Mayris Webber, lead researcher and a professor at the Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

For more on arthritis research:

Exercise Programs May Help with Arthritis
Arthritis Pain and Weather: Is the Connection Myth or Reality?
Stem-Cell Research Remains a Hot Topic for Arthritis Treatment