cause this? Basically, I went to the hospital and my liver readings from my blood came back really high on all, all plus 400 except total protein which was 82, my AST was 695, my ALT, was 560, can anyone tell me why? or what they actually mean?
The ALT and AST are two of the liver enzymes.
When the liver cells become damaged, these enzymes leak
out of the cells and go higher on the blood testing results.
Without a complete listing of all the blood testing that doctor
has done, it is really hard to pin point this.
However, the ALT is the enzymes most specific to the liver
itself, since it is the only enzymes that is made mostly by
the liver cells.
The liver cells can become damaged in different ways:
alcohol consumption, medication toxification,
chemical exposure, mushroom poisoning,
auto immune disease, viral (like hepatitis A,B,C) or
parasite infections, hereditary or metabolic disorders,
cysts/growth/tumor/cancer, biliary obstruction/malformation/
infections, cardiac/vascular problems, fatty liver disease and
so much more.
But the liver enzymes can also be elevated because
of heart, kidney, pancreas, bone, gallbladder and other
areas of damage.
The doctor doesn't just check the liver enzymes
(ALT, AST, GGT, and ALP levels)...he also checks
the liver blood functions tests (Bilirubin, INR, PT, PTT,
and Albumin levels) and may even check the
liver blood viral levels ( for hepatitis A,B,C) and
the liver cancer blood test (the alpha feta protein test)
and the auto immune liver tests( ANA, etc).
This is the only way to be sure this is definitely a liver
problem and not something in another area before
proceeding with film testing like an ultrasound or
Ct scan to look at the area.
If this is liver cell damage, the immune system of the body
would respond to this and cause inflammation inside the liver,
which could cause the liver to enlarge in size (which can
be seen with film testing). If this is caught early on and
the cause is able to be stopped...there is a good chance
the liver can heal. However, mononucleosis (if the
glands are swollen in the neck) can be cured by just
following the doctors instructions.
To look up any of your lab tests done, here is a link
that can explain each one.
http://www.labtestsonline.org
