It's the most common, and least specific. It can occur with a number of autoimmune disorders, and is the most common pattern in people with positive ANA who have no disease.

transientChris reminded me of the third part of the ANA test, which is the pattern. Did they tell you what that was?

Short answer: that is the ANA titer, the last dilution that gives a positive result. Long answer: There are two (three really, but two for our purposes) parts to the ANA test: 1) is the test positive or negative, and 2) if positive, how positive is it? They are looking to see if your dd has an antibody (Ab) that attacks structures in the nuclei of her cells. First, they add your dd's serum to a commercial preparation of cells. If her serum contains anti-nuclear Ab, the Ab will bind to the cells. A commercially prepared antibody that is tagged with a dye is then added. If there are any Ab-cell complexes, the dye will attach to them and you can see them "glow" under UV light. So that tells you you have a positive result. If there is no antibody in the serum, no complexes are formed, and the dye labeled antibodies have nothing to attach to, so there is no reaction and you would see nothing. If there is a positive result, they do a "serial dilution". That means they repeat the positive test, diluting it repeatedly until the test turns negative. That way, they have an idea of how much antibody there is. The dilutions are 1:40 1:80 1:160 1:640 1:1280 1:2560 (They might go higher or lower depending on the lab; those are the ones I'm familiar with.) A 1:40 dilution means there is 1 part serum mixed with 40 parts saline. As the second number goes up, the serum is more dilute. If you have a positive test at 1:40, that means that there was a reaction when you diluted the serum at 1 part serum:40 parts saline, but when you made it more dilute, there was no reaction. So a positive test at 1:2560 is much "more" positive than a positive test at 1:40. Another way of looking at it is if you have lots and lots of antibodies in your blood, you will still have high enough numbers to react even if the blood is very dilute. If you don't have many antibodies, there won't be enough to react as the dilutions get higher. The ANA is notorious for having a low PPV (positive predictive value). PPV is the percent of people with a positive test who actually have a disease. For the ANA, the PPV for lupus is about 11-13%. IOW, only 11-13% of people who have a positive ANA will actually have lupus. Many completely healthy people have positive ANAs, so it doesn't necessarily mean a disease is present. It does mean that they should keep looking though. As the titer goes up, the likelihood of there being a disease present goes up. A 1:160 titer is sort of borderline for being positive. That's why your doctor said it's low positive. It may indicate a disease, or it may be perfectly normal. Hope that wasn't too confusing. This page might be helpful.

I was wondering this too, and I ran across this blog entry. I don't know how accurate it is, but the author sounds like (s)he knows what (s)he's talking about. :D There seem to be lots of costs related to editing, marketing, etc. that would still exist with an ebook. I'd still think it would be a lot cheaper.

Because she's stressed. When my dd was very ill in the hospital I was awful to my mil. AWFUL. We normally get along fine, although she drives me up a wall. It's not okay that she's being a jerk, but it is understandable. Jerks get jerkier when they're stressed. Myself included. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Interesting. I'd be more sympathetic to Macmillan if I understood who would benefit from the higher price. I'm guessing it wouldn't be the authors.

Here is a snip of Massachusetts' history and social science standards. There's more, but it's too long and I can't post it all here.

Here are the social studies standards for our local school district. They are vague, and after reading them you still don't really know what your child is learning. Compare them to Massachusetts' very specific and clear history and social science standards. I'll have to post those separately or this will be too long. .

Our elementary schools don't do history. They do social studies, which is a joke. They spend weeks making dioramas of silly things, like the neighborhood movie store and police station. They learn about holidays and write poems about themselves. Every. Year. They don't start history till 9th grade.

Severe coughing is actually a pretty common cause of rib fractures, so I wouldn't be terribly concerned about that. But... I would see a doctor because 1) I'd want to be sure that's what's causing your pain. Rib fractures don't usually cause pain/tingling in the arm. 2) If you do have a rib fracture, pain control is important, so you don't end up with pneumonia. They can give you something stronger than Motrin. Sorry.:grouphug: Rib fractures

I wouldn't have a problem with banning smoking at daycares and preschools. Maybe that law already exists. Hope so.

That will be perfect for my first Kindle purchase! Thanks.

I just got mine on Friday and haven't bought anything yet, so it's too early for me to review it. But I travel quite a bit and am really looking forward to not having to lug a bunch of books around in my bag. My husband has been saying for years that it would be great when books became digital. I was horrified. I argued with him for years about how terrible it would be. But when it comes right down to it, the only benefit I can think of to a paper-and-ink book is sentimental value. There are probably others, but for me it's mainly about holding the book vs. holding the Kindle. We are heavy library users and rarely buy books, and we don't have that many books in the house. So that won't change. I'll post in a few days after I've actually used it some.

Not necessarily. Ringworm, or tinea, can be caused by a bunch of different fungi. They can look different depending on the location, the individual, and the organism. Tinea

If it's fungal and you use an antifungal, it usually gets better in a few days. If it's fungal and you put a steroid cream (like hydrocortisone) on it, it will probably get worse (although not always). If it's eczema and you put antifungal on it, it probably WON"T get worse. That's why I'd try the antifungal first. There isn't any way to be sure whether it's fungal or eczema without a skin scraping, so trying an antifungal first is the safest approach. Also, you have to be careful with steroids on the face. You should only use low potency and only for short term, except in rare circumstances and then only under supervision. Steroids on the face can cause permanent skin changes.

Are the authors making less money? Why would that be? Their percent cut should stay the same. One of my major reasons for buying a Kindle is because it's so much better environmentally. Small bookstores have already been destroyed by megastores, so I doubt the Kindle is going to have much more impact. I haven't had that argument yet, but if someone brings it up, I'll tell them how many trees I'm saving. :D

I agree, in theory, and if it was just me and my kids that's what we would do. We're usually getting meals for several other families too, many of whom are picky and want to order something they're already familiar with. When we started this a few years ago most of them were eating McDonalds for every meal. I feel like I've made great progress when I can get them to eat Jimmy Johns!:lol: The kids are backstage most of the day, so we plan the meals and take orders in the morning, then someone (me) sneaks out when there is enough time between dances to rush out and pick up food. If I had a menu beforehand, and knew that everyone could find something to make them happy, I'd try it. Unfortunately, we'd probably end up with a bunch of kids who wouldn't like their food and a bunch of moms mad at me for trying to be adventurous. :glare:

I think it looks fungal. Does it itch? Fungal infections on the face almost always itch. I'd try an OTC anti-fungal, like Lotrimin or Micatin. Tinea faciei

I should have put Culver's and Olive Garden on my list. We like those too. Thanks for the suggestions. Know of anything near the Renaissance Hotel in Schaumburg, or the Hilton Garden in St. Charles? It needs to be within about 10 minutes and they have to have takeout. TIA.

We're going to be doing a lot of traveling over the next couple months, for dance and skating competitions. We usually have to spend most of the weekend hanging around a hotel, convention center, or skating rink, and the kids don't have time to leave for meals. I usually run out and pick up food between performances. It's easiest if I have a list before we go out of town so I have ideas and maps all ready. We will be in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Omaha so there should be plenty of options. So what are your favorites if you have to eat at chains? We like Brueggers Jimmy Johns Chipotle PF Chang Outback We don't like McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's KFC, etc. Any suggestions?

Your mirror neurons are working.

Cholestyramine, probably.

Don't know why, but intense itching of hands and feet, worse at night, is a classic sign of cholestasis. From American Family Physician Go get that CT!:grouphug:

That's a common sign of liver and gallbladder problems. I'd call your doctor.

Rheumatologist