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What Does My Blood Test Report Indicate?
Question: what does a high ALT and AST on a blood test mean? Is there something I can do to lower the numbers?
Brief Answer:
detailed below.
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome to Healthcare Magic.
ALT and AST are two enzymes especially found inside liver cells.When these cells are damaged due to different reasons ,ALT and AST enter in blood circulation.
So when in a blood test ,ALT and AST are elevated ,this may indicate inflammation or damage to liver cells.
There are many possible causes for elevated ALT and AST including:
-Medications (like Statins used to control cholesterol in blood,painkillers like Tylenol)
-Alcohol consumption
-Fatty liver and Obesity
-Hepatitis
-Other common viral infections etc.
-Chronic autoimmune disease.
It is very important to know the value of AT ,AST in blood test and also the level of other parameters of liver function like Bilirubin,Total protein etc.
If all the other parameters are normal and ALT,AST are mildly elevated ,it is more likely to be a temporary cause.
In Viral hepatitis these enzymes can achieve very high levels.If you have gone through a viral infection lately ,or taken any medication that can cause liver damage ,probably this is the cause.
A detailed medical history,present symptoms,a detailed list over the medications used recently ,physical examination are essential to sort out the cause of this.
The treatment will depend upon the right cause.
If the cause is a temporary cause like medications used or viral infection ,the level of ALT,AST will come back in normal range gradually and after 3 months the tests will be normal.If not,further investigations might be necessary.
Hope it is helpful to you.
Please feel free to ask if you have any other question or doubts to clarify.I will be happy to help.
Kind regards,
Dr.Rovena Murati
detailed below.
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome to Healthcare Magic.
ALT and AST are two enzymes especially found inside liver cells.When these cells are damaged due to different reasons ,ALT and AST enter in blood circulation.
So when in a blood test ,ALT and AST are elevated ,this may indicate inflammation or damage to liver cells.
There are many possible causes for elevated ALT and AST including:
-Medications (like Statins used to control cholesterol in blood,painkillers like Tylenol)
-Alcohol consumption
-Fatty liver and Obesity
-Hepatitis
-Other common viral infections etc.
-Chronic autoimmune disease.
It is very important to know the value of AT ,AST in blood test and also the level of other parameters of liver function like Bilirubin,Total protein etc.
If all the other parameters are normal and ALT,AST are mildly elevated ,it is more likely to be a temporary cause.
In Viral hepatitis these enzymes can achieve very high levels.If you have gone through a viral infection lately ,or taken any medication that can cause liver damage ,probably this is the cause.
A detailed medical history,present symptoms,a detailed list over the medications used recently ,physical examination are essential to sort out the cause of this.
The treatment will depend upon the right cause.
If the cause is a temporary cause like medications used or viral infection ,the level of ALT,AST will come back in normal range gradually and after 3 months the tests will be normal.If not,further investigations might be necessary.
Hope it is helpful to you.
Please feel free to ask if you have any other question or doubts to clarify.I will be happy to help.
Kind regards,
Dr.Rovena Murati
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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