Blood Tests for Liver-Pancreas can be very helpful

[Guest guest]

Dear

thanks for taking the time to go back over the messages. It's a gold mine.

Regarding the diagnositic accuracy and availability of BLOOD TESTS for GB

and pancreas, the answer is YES and NO. The blood tests only show if there

is ACTIVE destruction of the liver and/or pancreas (usually from blockage) so

they don't give you any clue how the GB itself is doing. There are NO blood

tests directly for the GB.

You could have normal liver and pancreas blood tests today, get a stone

obstruction tonight and have horrible blood tests tomorrow! So, if your tests

are all normal today, that's GREAT, but it doesn't give you the ability to let

go

of all your cleansing and healing programs. On the other hand, if your blood

tests show problems today, you'd better clean up your act NOW. It's not a

bad idea to have your basic blood tests done periodically (especially if you

suspect something is going on) then use the information accordingly

1) LIVER ENZYMES- There are 5-6 major enzymes that are released into

the blood when the liver is trashed. Normally, 1000's of liver cells die every

day so those enzymes hover around at a low levels of around 10-50 units. If

you have hepatitis, obstruction, recent ingestion of booze or drugs or any

other liver insult, these enzymes will soar into the 100's or even 1000's, then

gravitate back to normal levels if the problem leaves. It's like the body count

in a war. You can also get blood tests for all the various forms of infectious

hepatitis. Do this for sure if you have chronically high liver enzyme levels.

2)BILIRUBIN If there is an obstructive problem, the bilirubin (old blood

pigments) wlll be unable to get to the biliary tract to the gut, and they back

up

into the blood. Tests break it down into conjugated and unconjugated as well

which differentiate if there is just an increase in bilirubin (say, with

internal

hemorrhage or blood destructive diseases) or if it is the processed form that

is backing up (or both forms, in some cases). A cheap way to measure your

bilirubin count is to look at your eyeballs in the mirror. High bilirubin =

JAUNDICE = yellow eyeballs. Jaundice is always very serious!

3) PANCREATIC ENZYMES- Mainly lipase and amylase. These are normally

very low, say 20-30 units. When I had pancreatitis, my levels shot up to over

5000 units of each. Once the blockage had cleared, they were back to 80-90

within a day or two. If these levels are high, you have active destruction of

pancreatic tissue going on and that ain't good.

4) WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT If there is a true infection of the organs or

GB you will show a high white count (dead fighter cells) when it is going on.

You can chart the exact course of any bacterial infection. Viral infections

usually depress or only slightly alter the wbc profile. Chronic inflammation can

also be reflected in the types of wbc's present in the differential analysis of

the wbc.

There are no good diagnostic tests for the REAL PROBLEM: Gallstones in the

liver and bile ducts. No tests, that is, until you get monster problems like

20,000 stones causing a fatty liver syndrome. These liver stones are all

cholesterol and solidified bile so they don't show up on normal radiology

either. A real hidden menace.

When I was in the hospital I requested ALL my blood tests every day and I

could chart my progress and then determine what approach I wanted the

doctors to follow. For example, on day 3 following a serious gallstone-induced

pancreatitis, my enzyme levels were all back to near normal ( making for a

really good prognosis) but the money-grubber GE docs were insisting that I

have an ERCP " just to make sure " . Huh? No frickin' way, I said. My stone

HAS to be gone. DUH---Look at the falling enzyme levels! They had no

answer but got furious at me and tried several devious and diabolical ways of

forcing me to get the stupid and dangerous test anyway. To make a long

story short: Thanks to my blood tests and intuition, I WON!

Will, still kickin' in Minnesota