Question
Hello I was hoping you could help me with a couple of questions. I am a 31 year old female who has been diagnosed with Degenerative disc disease, as well as arthritis, hypothyroid and Spondylothesis as well as some other back conditions. I took a rheumatoid factor test in April of 2012 and have just received the results. I am not clear on the results. The Rheumatoid factor result was <10 with a reference range of 0-14, is <10 the same as 10 and if so does this mean I am negative for RA? Antinuclear antibodies were negative and sTSH (3RD generation) thyroid stim hormone results were 4.630 H with a reference range of 0.36-3.74. Also Erythrocyte sed rate result was 1 with a reference range of 0-19.  I just want to know if my results were negative or positive and if the result of (<10)is the same as 10. Also on top of that i have been having some new symptoms such as blood in my stool as well as on the toilet paper when I wipe (started 2 months ago)cold fingers and feet with numbness and color change, the feeling of being choked mostly in the evening seems to progress as the day goes by. The only reason I bring up these symptoms is because I goggled the choking feeling last night and Scleroderma came up which I know nothing about,just wondering if these could be related. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I thank you in advance for all your help!

Answer
The most common symptom of scleroderma (about 97% of us) is secondary Raynaud's disease, where the fingers turn color and become numb during stress or temperature changes. You don't mention this, so it's a good chance you don't have scleroderma. Contact your doctor for her/his opinion on your test results.