Liver ALT 127

[Benji62]

my 23yr old son had a blood test a couple of days ago and everything was fine except hes ALT was 127 I'm so worried I'm working myself up into a frenzy anyone had this and it not turned out to be something serious please no horror stories

[Hidden]

ALT at 127 may seem alarmingly high, but so long as you can find out what's causing this and correct it, this isn't so bad. For reference, viral Hepatitis-A can pop liver enzymes up into the thousands for a month or more and most of these patients recover without excessive long term damage.

It's also wise not to try and read too much into an isolated test, but retest, typically in 90 days to see if the elevation is chronic.

Workplace toxins and some pharmaceuticals can cause elevation like your son is seeing. Acute illness like influenza can also raise enzymes briefly, as well as extreme exercise.

Have his doc look at any prescriptions he is taking. If he isn't on any meds, then look at workplace or environmental toxins. With a little detective work, you should find the cause.

[jbrking]

Please don’t panic. 10 years ago at aged 40 I had a blood test and my ALT was nearly 200. I felt tired but no other symptoms. I rarely drink so further tests and an ultrasound done and confirmed as non alcoholic fatty liver disease. I was overweight but not obese. Anyway to cut a long story short i changed my diet and my alt came down but not by enough so I’m now on medication (a statin) It is now just in the normal range (anything below 40 at your son’s age would be good). Basically if he drinks a lot (like my 24 year old does on a weekend!) he would be best to stop this for a while and lose weight if he needs to. Retest in a few months and see if it comes down. If not then he may need medication too. But be assured that in most cases if he takes care of himself it will not lead to any stiffness or chrosis so pl don’t worry.

[Benji62]

Thanks for the replies, What makes this worse is i have anxiety and my head won't accept rational thoughts, I've hardly slept since Thursday worrying about it

[Calvincat]

I'm 39 and mine has been all over the place for the last few years, tipping 115 at one point, more recently 72 before Christmas, I'm currently in the care of a gastroenterologist and have had a CT scan, and that just showed mildly fatty liver, and latest ALT is 38, I did used to drink far too much wine but knocked that right on the head after the first raised liver function test 4 years ago. It'll be something or nothing fingers crossed. Probs needs a lifestyle change to sort it