Re: ALT-AST info

January 26, 2011

Mine up here were ALT normal 6 - 34 AST normal 9 - 34.Now I've got to tell you that there is many different things that can affect the liver enzymes. One year my son had complained to me that he had pain where the esophagus is located. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought because many many of us in the family have trouble with Hiatus Hernias. Then, he phones me from work and asked if the Hiatus Hernia could turm him yellow. Not on your life I said, now get over the the closest clinic. Next phone call was that the Dr. wanted him to go directly to ER and his shift there was just about to start anyway. Well, after two series of Hep tests and several weeks, we finally found out that he was one of the

rare cases of turning yellow because of Mononucleosis.

Hi everybody

The normal levels for ALT are 7 - 56 ul.

The normal levels for AST are 5 - 35 ul.

http://pathcuric1.swmed.edu/pathdemo/nrrt.htm

From what I can understand, 5 times these levels are cause for concern.

[= ALT 280 ul / AST 175 ul]

http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Labs/Archive/Liver/Q197897.html

Apparently [beside liver damage] extreme exercise can cause liver enzyme elevations for two possible reasons.

1 - One is because muscle tissue is torn down during rigorous exercise which in turn releases enzymes from the muscle tissue which mimics liver enzymes (making it falsely appear that liver enzymes are higher than they actually are).

2 - Another is a rarer case where a form of temporary hepatitis of the liver can occur by the extreme exertion.

- High protein diet in conjunction with rigorous exercise was also cited a possible reason for elevated enzymes.

- Otherwise drugs and alcohol can cause elevations, especially if you combine alcohol with something like Tylenol.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Lab-report/show/95760

AST and ALT are considered to be two of the most important tests to detect liver injury, although ALT is more specific than AST.

Sometimes AST is compared directly to ALT and an AST/ALT ratio is calculated.

This ratio may be used to distinguish between different causes of liver damage.

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ast/test.html

AST/ALT ratio

http://hepatitis.about.com/od/diagnosis/a/LiverEnzymes.htm

normal ast alt ratio

http://search./search;_ylt=A0oG7k78uj9NsRgAngJXNyoA?ei=UTF-8 & fr=slv8-tyc7 & p=normal+ast+alt+ratio & rs=0 & fr2=rs-top

understanding alt/ast

http://search./search?ei=utf-8 & fr=slv8-tyc7 & p=understanding%20alt%2fast & type=

causes of elevated ast/alt levels

http://search./search?ei=utf-8 & fr=slv8-tyc7 & p=causes%20of%20elevated%20ast%2falt%20levels & type=

love

don in ks

January 26, 2011

The normal range of values for AST (SGOT) is from 5 to 40 units per liter of serum (the liquid part of the blood).

The normal range of values for ALT (SGPT) is from 7 to 56 units per liter of serum.

The ranges of AST and ALT numbers may differ slightly depending on the technique and protocols used by different laboratories. However, normal reference ranges are routinely provided by each laboratory and printed in the report.

AST (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) are sensitive indicators of liver damage or injury from different types of disease. But it must be emphasized that higher-than-normal levels of these liver enzymes should not be automatically equated with liver disease. They may mean liver problems or they may not. For example, elevations of these enzymes can occur with muscle damage. The interpretation of elevated AST and ALT levels depends upon the entire clinical evaluation of an individual, and so it is best done by physicians experienced in evaluating liver disease and muscle disease.

Moreover, the precise levels of these enzymes do not correlate well with the extent of liver damage or the prognosis (outlook). Thus, the exact levels of AST (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) cannot be used to determine the degree of liver disease or predict the future. For example, individuals with acute viral hepatitis A may develop very high AST and ALT levels (sometimes in the thousands of units/liter range). But most people with acute viral hepatitis A recover fully without residual liver disease. To the contrary, people with chronic hepatitis C infection typically have only a little elevation in their AST and ALT levels. Some of these individuals may have quietly developed chronic liver disease such as chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis (advanced scarring of the liver).

It is, therefore, worth mentioning that these liver enzymes do not give an indication of the function of the liver. Sometimes they are mistakenly referred to as “liver function tests” or LFTs, but it is a misnomer commonly used even by most physicians.

http://www.medicinenet.com/liver_blood_tests/page2.htm#3whatareOn Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 12:56 AM, Gloria <gadamscan@...> wrote:

Mine up here were ALT normal 6 - 34 AST normal 9 - 34.Now I've got to tell you that there is many different things that can affect the liver enzymes. One year my son had complained to me that he had pain where the esophagus is located. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought because many many of us in the family have trouble with Hiatus Hernias. Then, he phones me from work and asked if the Hiatus Hernia could turm him yellow. Not on your life I said, now get over the the closest clinic. Next phone call was that the Dr. wanted him to go directly to ER and his shift there was just about to start anyway. Well, after two series of Hep tests and several weeks, we finally found out that he was one of the