It depends on how HIGH the ANA is. It is usually expressed in a ratio of 1 to something. 1:80 is considered elevated, but most docs won't blink an eye at this. 1:160, maybe they will look, if you are under age 60. 1:320, a bit more suspicious. Mine is 1:1,280 or greater.

Then they look for a pattern. There are basically 4 patterns and then they can combine those 4 for a bunch of other patterns.

Then they do an ENA, extractable nuclear antigen, which will show up any of the 'usual' culprits, such as Lupus, RA, scleroderma etc....Often this is negative, which doesn't help with determining why one has a high ANA.

Given Alan has psoriasis, I would guess that the ANA is elevated due to that. It can also be elevated when we fight infection. Lupus in a male, Alan's age is unlikely.

Besides, medicine knows diddly squat about autoimmune disease, and the cures are as bad as the disease in some cases.

Right now, there is a huge Lupus campaign going on, 'Could it be Lupus'? Maybe this is because they just launched a new drug the docs have to sell. I don't know, but, unless it is really high, don't fret.