A 59 Year-Old Female Is Being Evaluated for Presence of a Connective

A 59 year-old female is being evaluated for presence of a connective tissue disease. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) result is reported as 26 mm/hour. How would the nurse evaluate this result?

A) The ESR is very low, indicating that the patient has an autoimmune disorder rather than a connective tissue disorder.
B) This is a normal finding, so no connective tissue disease is present.
C) The ESR is high, so inflammatory disease is present.
D) The ESR is normal and other testing is indicated.