why would your blood work come back with a high liver enzyme?

Question

in your blood work?

Answer 1

First, I want to say, that blood tests are not 100% accurate. It takes more than one test, it may take a series of the same test to see if there is something wrong. Liver enzymes can be elevated even if the patient has nothing wrong, it will depend on how often and how much they are elevated for the doctor to tell if this is abnormal for a person to have. The second thing is that, when you state "liver enzymes" you are talking about the enzymes themselves on the test and not what some just call "liver enzymes" which are actually tests that show how the liver is functioning.
The enzymes, if you have your blood work and can look at it, are the AST and ALT. The ALT elevated could signify liver problems such as inflammation or liver damage or even biliary damage. The AST, however, is used for this also, but may be released into the blood if you have damage to other areas of the body like the heart, lung, bones, etc. It is not specific just to the liver like the ALT is.

Now if you are talking about the Liver Function tests being elevated, but calling it liver enzymes,
Then you are dealing directly with the liver.
If you have problems with your liver, the liver
function tests known as Bilirubin,Albumin, and INR would be taken into consideration because this will tell the doctor if the liver is able to do the functions it does to keep the body performing well. If this is occurring, it is definitely a liver problem such as a fatty liver, biliary problem, inflammation of the liver like hepatitis or death of the liver cells like cirrhosis, etc.
What can cause liver damage? Too much alcohol consumption, working with chemicals,
hereditary conditions, contacting hepatitis,
drugs or medication going into toxic range and other reasons.

It is hard waiting to find out from a doctor what exactly is happening. But, he isn't just looking at the enzymes alone but in combination of your other tests, medical background, and condition or disease you might have. He has the whole picture to see clearly what may be wrong.

Answer 2

Which enzyme and how how? Liver enzyme tests generally rise due to liver damage. There are different enzyme tests (SGOT SGPT, LDH, ect) which say different things about the when and where and how long ago the damage is. Small rises can be temporary and caused by things like the drugs your taking. Very high levels would be serious, but I imagine you doctor would have called you in right away to figure out what is going on. You have to talk to your doctor for a specific interpretation and cause.

Answer 3

Something I took in the past has permanently affectedmy liver's enzyme output, making the blood centers refuse my donation.

Answer 4

It sure could be from drinking, but not too long ago there was a woman with an adenoma in her liver. This came up as elevated liver enzymes.

Answer 5

It could be a side effect a medication you take. Or, there certainly could be something wrong with your liver function. In both cases, you should follow up with your primary doctor/whomever ordered the blood test just to be sure everything is okay.

Answer 6

Probably the most common cause is hepatitis, but there are many others, like gall bladder disease, or liver failure due to toxins(like cleaning solvents or other chemicals in your environment, or some drugs, both prescription and non).

As above, you should definitely follow up with your physician.

Answer 7

many reasons... medications, overweight (fatty liver), too much alcohol, some type of damage to the liver, hepatitis.

For me it was the weight issue, the results went back to normal after I lost about 20 pounds.

Answer 8

Ask your doctor for an explanation.

Answer 9

You take too much ibuprofen

Answer 10

Booze, for one.