Liver function blood test

[Brighton2017]

So how accurate are these tests?

[Winnie73]

There's some info on this site regarding blood tests that's worth a read. If you are going for some blood tests ask your GP to include GGT. It's not routinely done but is know to be quite sensitive for inflammation. A low GGT combined with other liver function tests will give some indication of liver health. Others more knowledgeable than me will hopefully give you some more insight. Hope that helps.

[Kristian]

The usual initial tests your GP will do, ALT, ALP and sometimes AST and GGT, are not necessarilly tests of liver function. They are more indicators of whether there is any ongoing or recent injury to the liver. They are really measurements of enzymes produces when injury has recently occurred or is occurring. Although, not all of the enzymes measured are actually specific only to the liver. They can be released by other parts of the body too. So understanding what test results mean can be a bit of a mine field, which can be complicated further by different labs having different references ranges for what is the normal range for them. Hence one of the reasons BLT tend to discourage the posting of actual lab results. I'm sure that the BLT leaflet referred to by Winnie will explain all that far better than i can.

Just to give a bit of an example Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) can be raised in liver injury and also in bone injury. If the GGT test is done and that is also raised, then with the two together it is more likely that the enzyme was produced in the liver.

Its also probably worth noting that an abnormal LFT result doesn't necessarilly mean that a particularly person actually has liver disease. There are so many things that may cause that to occur. Anything from a simple infection, virus, even taking ibruprofen or other meds may do it. Its also worth noting that diagnosis is rarely made on test results alone. Doctors have to take everything into account and get the whole picture before doing so. Another reason I guess why BLT discourage the posting of results.

Hope that adds a little bit more insight. I am by no means an expert on the subject. This is really what I have picked up from what I have read or been told over the last few years. Its also exceptionally generic.