imaware Launches At-Home Rheumatoid Arthritis Screening Test

People can now test for rheumatoid arthritis, even before symptoms develop, from the comfort of home

Houston, TX (PRWEB) - imaware™, an at-home testing platform for chronic illness and diseases, designed by healthcare company Microdrop, today announced it has launched the first at-home screening test for Rheumatoid Arthritis. The company, which makes the results available to its clients within five days, is working to help more people access the diagnosis they need to manage their health. The new test expands on the company’s lineup of Celiac Disease screening and monitoring solutions and is part of its mission to make testing, diagnosis and disease management more accessible and affordable.

“Rheumatoid Arthritis is a highly underdiagnosed autoimmune disease affecting millions, with an estimated 40 percent who are not aware of their symptoms or yet diagnosed," said Jani Tuomi, co-founder of imaware. "With our at-home test, we can help patients identify Rheumatoid Arthritis earlier, and take advantage of the “window of opportunity” to prevent irreversible joint damage.”

“The imaware platform provides a great opportunity for patients to test from home and engage in earlier diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis,” said Dr. Timothy Niewold, Director, NYU Colton Center for Autoimmunity. “This early detection can help prevent the disease from causing damage."

The imaware test for Rheumatoid Arthritis uses just a few drops of blood to detect CCP-IgG, a unique biomarker as well as two additional biomarkers, RF-IgA and RF-IgM, to provide more comprehensive results. The results are reviewed by a team of health professionals, and provided to the patient through the online imaware portal. The screening test was designed alongside world-renowned doctors, including Dr. Deane, Division of Rheumatology
University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, and Dr. Niewold, Director of the NYU, Colton Center for Autoimmunity.

“We are excited to partner with imaware, as we share a common belief in the benefits of earlier diagnosis. Using imaware, we believe many more patients will become aware of their condition, and seek the appropriate medical treatments,” said Dana Symons, Vice President, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, a leading patient advocacy organization.

“Rheumatoid disease can go undetected for years in some people because visible symptoms may be subtle at first. It is absolutely crucial that we move toward an early screening model for Rheumatoid Arthritis”, said Kelly O’Neill Young, founder of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior blog. Young is an avid advocate for early treatment: “From working with tens of thousands of patients over the last ten years, I’m absolutely sure that early diagnosis allowing for earlier treatment is the best thing we could do for patients right now.”

How imaware Rheumatoid Arthritis test works:
Three biomarkers commonly associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis are measured; rheumatoid factors (RF) and cyclic citrullinated peptides (CCP) biomarkers. The combination of these biomarkers has been demonstrated to identify the disease in its early development, even before symptoms show. Available online at imaware.health for $99.00 USD, the test uses a small amount of blood obtained by a finger prick and is collected in a vial. People then mail the sample back in and within five days will receive their confidential test results via a secure portal. The test is currently available in the United States.

About imaware
The imaware mission is to expand health awareness through convenient home-based health testing. Empowering individuals with the tools to drive awareness to chronic illness and to provide access to their health information to take corrective action to live a better quality of life sooner. Healthcare company Microdrop, designs, tests and validates each imaware test alongside their advisory board of world-renowned doctors from prestigious medical research facilities. The advisory board includes, Dr. Detlef Schuppan, Professor and Director, Celiac Disease and Fibrosis Center at UMC Mainz, Dr. Stefano Guandalini University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, Dr. Eleftherios Diamandis of Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System, Dr. Gordon B. Mills, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, and Dr. Margaret Spitz and Dr. Melissa Bondy of the Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Baylor College of Medicine.

For more information, visit us online at imaware.health