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Taking Glass Of Wine Once A Month. Blood Test Showed Slightly Elevated Bilirubin Level. Concerned?
Question: Hi I am 49 yrs old male with 175 cms height and 75 kgs weight. I have a normal exercise routine and a vegetarian diet. I drink one glass of wine once a month. My recent blood tests results show Total Bilirubin at 33umol/l, haemoglobin 127 g/l, protein 63 g/l. I donated 1/2 ltr blood and thought that could be reason for low haemoglobin. My LDL and HDL 3 and 1.0 mmol/l respectively. Is my liver a fatty liver, should I be concerned, I don't have any jaundice symptoms, urine tests are clear (in fact perfect as Dr says), my friend says redwine is good to cure high bilirubin> Dear Drs your advise pls. Thank you in advance for your comments.
Hi XXXXXXX
First, you really dont need to worry about these results. This is very slightly decreased level of haemoglobin and feritin,and slightly elevated bilirubin. It is found in healthy people, and even some studies confirm that HG>125g/l is normal for men. Also it can be caused by your nutrition, it is known that vegetarians sometimes dont take enough iron by food, but this is not reason to stop being vegetarian.
And sure, blood donation is also possible cause.
The third reason can be something more serious,considering raised bilirubin, and it is called hemolytic anemia. Usually this is associated with liver and spleen enlargement, but much lower red blood count and raised bilirubin than you have.
So if you want to be sure you should do liver ultrasound and Coombs test(from your blood) to rule this out. Also fatty liver should be seen if you have it, but I dont think so because liver enzymes would be high. Also high alcohol intake is needed to cause fatty liver.
For home treatment, yes, red wine is good for red blood count, but just 0.2dcl per day. Also you can take some iron XXXXXXX food such as spinach, collards, prunes, raisins, beans, lentils, chick peas and soybeans and there are some medicines,but better try following my instructions and check your blood tests for 1 months and see is there improvement.
Hope I have answered your query. If you have any further questions I will be happy to help
First, you really dont need to worry about these results. This is very slightly decreased level of haemoglobin and feritin,and slightly elevated bilirubin. It is found in healthy people, and even some studies confirm that HG>125g/l is normal for men. Also it can be caused by your nutrition, it is known that vegetarians sometimes dont take enough iron by food, but this is not reason to stop being vegetarian.
And sure, blood donation is also possible cause.
The third reason can be something more serious,considering raised bilirubin, and it is called hemolytic anemia. Usually this is associated with liver and spleen enlargement, but much lower red blood count and raised bilirubin than you have.
So if you want to be sure you should do liver ultrasound and Coombs test(from your blood) to rule this out. Also fatty liver should be seen if you have it, but I dont think so because liver enzymes would be high. Also high alcohol intake is needed to cause fatty liver.
For home treatment, yes, red wine is good for red blood count, but just 0.2dcl per day. Also you can take some iron XXXXXXX food such as spinach, collards, prunes, raisins, beans, lentils, chick peas and soybeans and there are some medicines,but better try following my instructions and check your blood tests for 1 months and see is there improvement.
Hope I have answered your query. If you have any further questions I will be happy to help
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you Doctor. Before I go for ultra sound, is there any medication I need. I started taking Dates to increase my Iron levels along with Ferrograd C vitamin tablets.
Ok.thats great. you dont need anything else. Your blood picture will be better after this.if you dont have any other symptom then i am sure everything is fine with you. Just check your liver with ultrasound and thats it.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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