What is an elevated ALP level indicative of?

Question

My doctor told me that my ALP levels are high, mine being 160. She is sending me to rheumatologist and she also wants me to get a bone scan. Before this I have never even heard of ALP levels. Does anyone know if 160 is considered really elevated and exactly what is ALP?

Answer 1

How is it used?
When a person has evidence of liver disease, very high ALP levels can tell the doctor that the person’s bile ducts are somehow blocked. Often, ALP is high in persons who have cancer that has spread to the liver or the bones, and doctors can do further testing to see if this has happened. If a person with bone or liver cancer responds to treatment, ALP levels will decrease. When a person has high levels of ALP, and the doctor is not sure why, s/he may also order ALP isoenzyme tests to try to determine the cause.


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When is it ordered?
ALP is generally part of a routine lab testing profile, often with a group of other tests called a liver panel. It is also usually ordered along with several other tests if a patient seems to have symptoms of a liver or bone disorder.


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What does the test result mean?
NOTE: A standard reference range is not available for this test. Because reference values are dependent on many factors, including patient age, gender, sample population, and test method, numeric test results have different meanings in different labs. Your lab report should include the specific reference range for your test. Lab Tests Online strongly recommends that you discuss your test results with your doctor. For more information on reference ranges, please read Reference Ranges and What They Mean.


High ALP usually means that the bone or liver has been damaged. If other liver tests such as bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), or alanine aminotransferase (ALT) are also high, usually the ALP is coming from the liver. If calcium and phosphate measurements are abnormal, usually the ALP is coming from bone.

In some forms of liver disease, such as hepatitis, ALP is usually much less elevated than AST and ALT. When the bile ducts are blocked (usually by gallstones, scars from previous gallstones or surgery, or by cancers), ALP and bilirubin may be increased much more than AST or ALT. In a few liver diseases, ALP may be the only test that is high.

In some bone diseases, such as a disorder called Paget’s disease (where bones become enlarged and deformed), or in certain cancers that spread to bone, ALP may be the only test result that is high.

Sometimes doctors don’t know why ALP is high, and they need to order other tests to determine the exact cause. In such cases, your doctor may order another enzyme, GGT, that is made by the liver in the same places as is ALP, but which is not made by bone.
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Is there anything else I should know?
Pregnancy can increase ALP levels. Children have higher ALP levels because their bones are growing, and ALP is often very high during the “growth spurt,” which occurs at different ages in males and females.

Eating a meal can increase the ALP level slightly for a few hours in some people. It is usually better to do the test after fasting overnight. Some drugs may increase ALP levels, especially some of the drugs used to treat psychiatric problems, but this is rare.

Fasting is preferred but not required for this test.


A level of 160 is raised but not hugely raised.

Answer 2

ALP high due to liver Cell damage .Simple

Answer 3

414