Liver function test

[KyleM]

Hi there, I'm wondering if anyone could help me out, I had a liver function test and ultrasound scan 3 years ago on my liver which came back normal. I was at the time and have since been drinking pretty heavily. Most nights a week if not every night. I've decided to cut right back for numerous reasons now however I have been to the doctors today with abdominal pain and sent for bloods taken for liver function after admitting I had been heavily drinking. I'm wondering is there a chance I could have developed liver damage or cirrhosis since my last test in 2016? I'm a bit worried as I'm only 28 and the thought of myself ruining my life over alcohol is eating me away. Thanks for any advice

[Hidden]

At your age you are unlikely to have cirrhosis. If you did you'd have symptoms (unless maybe you were in the early stage & your liver was compensating). You'd probably need to drink heavily for at least another 10 years or longer to get cirrhosis however if you also drugged (legal or illegal) at the same time as drinking, were malnourished or overweight (and had fatty liver) or you had diabetes it would increase the likelihood of having done serious damage to your liver. If you don't have any of these other factors & all you've done is drink heavily for the last 3 years and an ultrasound showed no damage before you started drinking heavily, you should be fine. You could have some liver damage from the 3 years of heavy drinking but it should repair itself as a result of following a healthy lifestyle.

Elastography or a FibroScan to measure liver stiffness could determine if you have any fibrosis but the result could be inflated if your blood test showed raised enzymes & you had a FibroScan while your liver was inflamed.

When you get your blood test result you could do a check for advanced fibrosis yourself by inputting the required data into the calculators in the links below. Only do so if you feel comfortable doing it. Like the FibroScan & Elastography the result could be inflated by raised enzymes. A more accurate result could be obtained by inputting results from another blood test after say 3 months of abstinence.

hepatitisc.uw.edu/page/clin...

mdcalc.com/fibrosis-4-fib-4...

[LAJ123 in reply to Hidden]

Edward,

Age is absolutely no barrier to getting cirrhosis and its dangerous to suggest that you are protected by being young.

This week I met a woman aged 27 with alcohol related liver disease who is now being considered for a referral to a transplant centre.

Also there is a case cited by a well known professor where a man aged 18 died as a result of alcohol related liver disease, he was denied a transplant as he stated that he had no intention of stopping drinking alcohol.

Below is from a study - note the age range (26 - 80)

Table 1

Characteristics of patients admitted to ICU with decompensated alcoholic liver disease. Data are given as numbers, mean (sd) or median (IQR)

Male/female

60/47

Age (range)

51 (26–80)

Median APACHE II score (IQ range)

25 (20–31)

Median ICU length of stay in days (IQ range)

2.4 (1–7.3)

% Total ICU bed days

6.9

Jim

[Hidden in reply to LAJ123]

I've no doubt that it's possible to get cirrhosis at a young age however KyleM was asking about his chances of having cirrhosis after 3 years of heavy drinking when an ultrasound scan before he started drinking heavily showed that he had no signs of liver damage and his only symptom was abdominal pain. Provided he is generally in good physical health & has no other contributing factors like genetics (fast metabolisers of alcohol who need to drink a lot to get drunk are more susceptible to cirrhosis), the presence of other liver diseases, the use of other drugs, malnutrition, being overweight & having fatty liver disease and/or type 2 diabetes KyleM's chances of having cirrhosis are low.

Dr. Melissa Palmer's Guide To Hepatitis and Liver Disease:

"Not everyone who drinks alcohol excessively develops alcoholic liver disease (ALD). In fact, only about 25 percent of alcoholics develop ALD, and only 10 to 15 percent of alcoholics are found to have cirrhosis during autopsy."

[LAJ123 in reply to Hidden]

These statistics should not be used to rationalise excessive drinking. If the rate was just 1% that's enough to give the message that alcohol causes cirrhosis. It's not a lottery.

Jim

[Hidden in reply to LAJ123]

Life is to some extent a lottery. I wasn’t rationalising excessive drinking. Excessive drinking should be discouraged. I was responding specifically to KyleM’s concerns by giving him an objective assessment of the chances of his having liver damage after 3 years of heavy drinking following an ultrasound scan that cleared him of any damage. Based on the quote from hepatologist Melissa Palmer’s book 75% of alcoholics don’t even get alcoholic liver disease let alone cirrhosis and 85% of alcoholics don’t get cirrhosis. The liver is resilient enough so that majority of people can get away with some excessive drinking. KyleM has a good chance of not having cirrhosis or significant liver damage unless some of the other factors I mentioned were present together with his excessive drinking.

[LAJ123 in reply to Hidden]

That's fine and I know you weren't trivialising the potential for harm, it was simply that the statement 'too young' could be misleading if taken out of context. We all know that often people will take something and if it fits how they want to see their problem they will use it as a way to rationalise their behaviour.

We shall leave it there.

Jim

[Brett11 in reply to Hidden]

Have you and Melissa got something going Edward? 😂

Seriously though, I do like your comments.

Cheers,

Brett

[Hidden in reply to Brett11]

I digitized Melissa Palmer's book while I was recovering from hepatitis turning it into a Microsoft Word file as well as a PDF document so it's easy to do a search on anything to do with liver disease that someone on the forum asks about and quote from the book by copying & pasting directly from the book. Despite her book not being up date on new tests like FibroScans etc. it's still a very comprehensive guide on the liver.

[Brett11 in reply to Hidden]

Still didn’t answer my question Edward. Is there anything going on with you two? Lol

[Hidden in reply to Brett11]

She's a redhead. I have a fondness for redheads!

[GrandmaDylan in reply to Hidden]

No hair, just a red head???

[Hidden in reply to GrandmaDylan]

Striking red hair & a big smile!

liverdisease.com/

[Brett11 in reply to Hidden]

Edwards got a crush!!! Told you so. 😂

[Hidden]

Edward is right it is unlikely to be cirrhosis. Especislly if all was clear 3 years ago. Liver disease at all tho? That one is possible. I have recently found out that I had the early stages of alcoholic liver disease at about 28 and my liver was pretty close to completely knackered by 34. So I'm living proof that it's possible. Also alot of studies are coming out now (and my hepotologist has confirmed this as well) that show liver disease of all types are starting to show up in people at earlier ages than they were previously seeing. There is a big influx of liver issues happening in people in their 30s and 40s that they were other wise typically seeing people have in their 50s and 60s. They aren't sure quite why yet but it's there.

It really comes down to how much you drink. Under what circumstances you drink. Genetics diet and other contributing factors play roles as well. Fact is that even a doctor couldnt tell you yay or nay to your question without proper tests and scans. So get those done and see what's going on. I wish I could tell you the answer but it just simply doesnt work that way.

I would suggest for your mental well being to maybe not drink at all right now if your safe to do so. IE withdrawals etc. I only say this as there is no point of drinking if its causing any anxiety or worry as a result of doing it and secondly if there is underlying disease you dont want to make it worse by continuing to drink without knowing the facts on your health front. In the meantime try and give yourself some credit for stepping up and making a move toward finding out where your health is at and trying to do something to make sure it's in good standing. Straight up it takes courage and balls to address what we fear. It's much easier to pretend it isnt happening and look the other way when we feel inside something's up (Especially as men🙄). So kudos to you for that Kyle. Let us know how you make out my friend.

-Phoenix

[KyleM]

Thanks for the advice you guys. To my knowledge there would be no genetic issue and your correct I am usually fit and well. I'm just waiting now for my blood test results hopefully il get them soon. In the meantime I've been trying the best I can to do my best for my liver. Lots of water fruit, veg etc. If you guys have any recommendations on any supplements etc I could take to help my liver please let me know. I really appreciate the help.

[Hidden in reply to KyleM]

Stay away from supplements. They are a scam and alot of them are bad for your liver. Just eat well and exercise. The only time any sort of supplement should be used is at a doctors instruction and that usually is for people who for example have problems absorbing things the natural way. Also ignore the junk ads out their for "liver detox". There is no such a thing. The liver is a detox organ it detoxes itself.

[Brett11 in reply to KyleM]

No supplements or fad cures or liver detox. No milk thistle either.

[KyleM]

Thanks everyone. I've just been on the phone with my doctors they said my liver panel is slightly out of normal range but satisfactory and they left it at that. Not quite sure what to take from those results.

[KyleM]

I have a telephone appointment with the doctor tomorrow to discuss my results as I was a but worried about it saying slightly outside of normal range. I will ask for a break down of what is high or low etc. Any advice would be brilliant thanks people

[Roy1955]

Ask to see the printed copy of results, most labs use bolder print to highlight the ones that are not "normal".

Then ask your Dr to explain the implication of the bold ones.

[KyleM in reply to Roy1955]

Thanks il do that tomorrow. Then hopefully try and make sense of what I can improve

[Roy1955 in reply to KyleM]

Remember though that it takes an expert to look at the results and come to a conclusion.

It your Dr says theres nothing to worry about accept it and live healthy.

With average luck you can stay that way!

[KyleM in reply to Roy1955]

Thanks for that. I do worry alot about my health. I've made big lifestyle changes now so hopefully either way I can correct whatever's wrong.

[KyleM in reply to KyleM]

I've had a phone call from the dr this morning and she said liver function test was normal. So I asked what the out of range part was and she said my Albunim was slightly out of range but nothing to worry about and it's probably down to my diet etc.