Hi,I am Dr. Subhankar Chakraborty (Gastroenterologist). I will be looking into your question and guiding you through the process. Please write your question below.
Hi - I drank heavily on consecutive nights (Friday and Saturday night) and had a few drinks on Tuesday night preceding a liver panel test on Wednesday. My AST was found to be high (58 on a normal scale of 0-55 u/l). ALT was normal (32 on a normal scale of 0-69 u/l). Should I be concerned or were the drinking sessions of the past week to blame for the elevated AST levels? Thank you.
Hello! Thanks for putting your query in HCM. I am a Gastroenterologist (DM). Increase in AST is due to liver cell injury which may be due to alcohol intake. It is a matter of concern as prolonged liver injury can cause cirrhosis that is shrinkage of liver which is irreversible. So I will advise you to avoid alcohol. Also other common and treatable causes like Hepatitis B and C virus, Serum ceruloplasmin for wilson disease especially if you are young, ANA and SMA for autoimmune disease are to be investigated as they also cause increase in AST
I hope I have answered your query and this will help you. If you have any further query I will be happy to answer that too. Remain in touch and get-well soon.
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What Causes Elevated AST Levels?
Hello! Thanks for putting your query in HCM. I am a Gastroenterologist (DM). Increase in AST is due to liver cell injury which may be due to alcohol intake. It is a matter of concern as prolonged liver injury can cause cirrhosis that is shrinkage of liver which is irreversible. So I will advise you to avoid alcohol. Also other common and treatable causes like Hepatitis B and C virus, Serum ceruloplasmin for wilson disease especially if you are young, ANA and SMA for autoimmune disease are to be investigated as they also cause increase in AST I hope I have answered your query and this will help you. If you have any further query I will be happy to answer that too. Remain in touch and get-well soon.