Abnormal liver function tests - no reaction from doctor
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi dear people,
I am 26 y/o, rather healthy, active female.
As I am starting to write my 6 month long process of writing a master thesis, I decided to make sure I am healthy and all the functions are good, before entering this stressful journey, and reached out GP for a standard blood test.
When I got the results, he assured me that everything is perfect and I should not worry a minute.
Coming back home with a paper in my hand I noticed that some of the liver function results looked rather abnormal along with elevated c reactive protein
GOT (AST) - 142 ( norm <35)
GPT (ALT) - 59 ( norm <35)
C reaktive Protein 0.7 ( norm <0.5)
I am not sure if I should go to someone for the second opinion, or this is something I can easily ignore, as Doctor was pretty confident that everything looked fine.
p.s. I was not asked a single question about alcohol consumption or any other health concerns and was not redirected to any further tests.
0 likes, 1 reply
77DarkHorse7 natia11953
Posted
Regarding the first two results, Liver Function Tests are some of the most complicated and varied results they can test for. Things like medications you're taking, OTC drugs like paracetamol and aspirin, allergies, a cold in the past two weeks, strenuous exercise, stress, and more, can cause an elevated result. A large portion of the healthy demographic would have elevated results at any one time. When they say normal here, they're really only expecting slightly more than half the population to be under that amount. Ask any GP, a good portion of their healthy practice would have abnormal LFTs. Also, a serious liver problem would produce a result between 15 and 30 times the normal limit, in both sets. Yours max out at 4.1 times.
The C reactive protein test. While CRP is produced in the liver, the results are not specific to the liver, and so isn't a true liver function test. I'm not sure what the values given here are. A normal CRP is less than 3 mg per litre, so they must be using different units of measurement here. CRP is a measurement of systemic inflammation in the body so infections, allergies, cuts, scrapes, bruises, even some different types of food can raise this number. CRP is extremely sensitive, so if you even stubbed a toe it could go over the limit. Your result seems to indicate that you do have some inflammation in your body. But that's about all it indicates. It isn't high enough to be a serious concern, or even a moderate concern. Again, I'm only basing this on the normal limit given and how much you're result exceeds it. If it get's past 4 times the limit, then there's questions that should be asked.
Lastly, please don't be shy to review your results when you are in the doctors' office, and ask any questions you may have there. It is not burdensome, it's what they are there to do. In fact, most doctors would prefer their patients be more fully informed, and engaged in their health.