Semi-high alt levels?

Question

Heya. I'm a resonably healthy female who just had recent blood work done and my alt was 56. This is not that high, but the nurse who talked to me said it was concerning...she doesn't like me much to do a misunderstanding a long time ago and knows I have Generalized anxiety disorder so what I'm wondering is if an alt of 56 is really something to be concerned about or if she was just trying to upset me. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Hi again, I'll do my best to answer this for you. Note from your previous question you are 21 years and also seem currently to be on no medication. It would be important to know your weight or to be more accurate your BMI.

Among the most sensitive of the liver enzymes are the aminotransferases. They include aspartate aminotransferase (AST or SGOT) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT or SGPT). These enzymes are normally contained within liver cells. If the liver is injured, the liver cells spill the enzymes into blood, raising the enzyme levels in the blood and signalling the liver damage.

At 56 your alt is only VERY marginally raised (normal up to 45), ast and alt are so sensitive that trivial often undetectable issues cause them to alter. I am afraid nurses, who are not doctors and are sometimes not able to put results in perspective and are sometimes very guilty of worrying patients for little or no reason.

The first thing I would advise you that with any luck all we need to do about such a minimally raised alt is check it again in 2 weeks. In an average batch of 10 LFTs done on a routine basis I would expect to find at least 2 or 3 abnormal each probably more elevated than your own. I would repeat the abnormal, if any had returned to normal or were unchanged would repeat them in another month. If any had significantly deteriorated I would ask to see the patients for discussion.

The commonest cause of mildly raised alt/ast today is probably fatty infiltrate of the liver, this occurs in patients who are overweight. It is not particularly serious and basically is managed by diet with ongoing monitoring.

Even quite trivial Viral illnesses can also cause mild temporary abnormalities, also in a group of patients, the elevation either resolves or remains stable and we find no cause.

If abnormality persists I would arrange a liver ultrasound, which is painless.

It is important that on line I NEVER falsely reassure someone who might conceivably have disease and I must advise you to see your GP.

But overall I suspect this is much ado about nothing unless there is a much larger abnormality in your next result.

Answer 2

Normally you wouldnt be concerned by an isolated high reading from liver tests unless ALT or AST are more than three or four times the normal limit. This is not as high as that so if its an isolated high reading i wouldnt worry about it. It can sometimes be caused by medication or alcohol etc.

If you're worried go for a repeat reading in around 3 months to see if it has returned to normal. It may just be a temporary raise due to infection, inflammation etc.

Answer 3

I used to work for a doctors office and I read alot of labs.Usually when someone had a serious liver problem like hepatitis their ALT readings would be really high, like sometimes in the 1000's.A reading like yours is usually caused from medication,but you should make sure you see what your doctor says.The doctor I worked for looked over all the lab results and would right notes at the bottom for me to call the patient if there was anything seriously wrong so your probably o.k.

Answer 4

Speak to your doctor about this,
she has no right to treat you like this.
sounds to me that she is in the wrong job.