Bloods

[bintcliffe]

Hi All

Can anybody explain how your blood tests are normal but you have liver cirrhosis.

I tried to go over this with my GP but she just brushed it aside.

Much appreciated

Hayley xx

[AyrshireK]

Liver Function Tests are being renamed as liver blood tests because in reality they don't actually report liver function at all but various aspects of liver injury.

In simple terms when bloods are deranged it is because the healthy bits or struggling bits of your liver are emitting signals to report their ongoing injury or inflammation which causes elevations/dips in liver bloods. When you have cirrhosis the damaged bit/scarred bit/cirrhotic bit is in effect dead and therefore doesn't emit these signals of ongoing injury.

That's it really simplified but I did find a piece on line which discusses how Liver Blood Tests can be misinterpreted. ueg.eu/education/latest-new...

Hope that helps.

Katie

[Hidden in reply to AyrshireK]

Its about time they renamed it. Its truly a misnomer.

[VeeWat in reply to Hidden]

Yes, U.S. calling them liver enzymes tests now. dr Gish says real liver function tests are direct bilirubin, albumin, and one more which I can’t think of this second.

[bintcliffe in reply to AyrshireK]

Hi Katie

And all that replied.

I seem to be in control of the alcohol issue now however what should I be eating for liver cirrhosis. The liver nurse just said 3 balanced meals per day?????

I would love to know what would benefit my liver at this stage and what would be hard for my liver to process.

Kindest regards as always.

Hayley xx😁

[AyrshireK in reply to bintcliffe]

A normal balanced and healthy diet is best. Limit salt (to prevent fluid build up), watch your sugar in take and just eat well at this stage. If you find you are loosing weight, becoming excessively tired, loosing muscle then you need to request to see a liver specialist dietician who will put you on to the appropriate diet plan for muscle wastage and fuelling issues in cirrhosis.

In the meantime there is good guidance on diet and liver disease on the BLT page at:- britishlivertrust.org.uk/li...

All the best, Katie

[bintcliffe in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks Katie that's the bounty bars going in the bin!!!!XX😗

[AyrshireK in reply to bintcliffe]

No need to give up all your treats, just don't over do it.

[bintcliffe in reply to AyrshireK]

💖

[Hidden in reply to AyrshireK]

Katie, I wonder why they dont just start using ELF tests as a standard instead of the LFTs? Is it a cost thing?

[Hidden]

Hey Hayley! I was going to respond to say pretty much what Katie has already said. Take a look at her link and please hit us back if its still confusing at all. Hope you are doing well!

[JimmyJackson]

I agree with Phoenix, some years ago I had a blood test for an unrelated problem, it showed a slight liver abnormality & I was told to have a test every 6 months. I did this religiously for many years, with absolutely no adverse findings.

I had a colonoscopy, which showed an early bowel cancer ( I had a clear poo test only weeks before)

The MRI for this condition also showed advanced NASH cirrhosis, for first time. I have never drunk alcohol excessively & keep very fit.

I & most are led to believe that these NHI tests are accurate, which is wrong

These tests should be re- named & the public informed, that they can be very unreliable.

[Casinobo]

This question had been asked many times in here. I posted it too. I still don’t understand it fully. I think you don’t know you have Cirrhosis until it’s too late for many. So that being said, I’m going to just limit alcohol, by a lot ,lose weight,eat right ,and exercise. Kind of what we should have been doing all along. The older I get, I have symptoms for about a 1000 ailments. I am sure one of them is gonna get me! Lol. If I really think about why I ask this question, it’s probably because, I still want to enjoy a cold brewski at times. Also, if our LFTS are ok, I used to view it as a permission slip to keep on boozing. I have totally changed my ways since my Gallbladder came out last year but by no means, am out if the woods. I have work to do for sure. Hope you are well😀

[Hidden in reply to Casinobo]

If the doctors startes using ELF blood tests as the standard instead of the LFT tests we would all know right away. Its the LFT test that poses a problem in this regard.

[Casinobo in reply to Hidden]

Why do you think they don’t use such an important test if it’s that reliable?

[AyrshireK in reply to Casinobo]

ELF test is very new and it's probably not found it's place yet in the standard set of tests for liver conditions but it is supposed to be a much better indicator than LFT's for fibrosis and fatty liver.

[Ajo13 in reply to AyrshireK]

I asked my doctor for one last week, in the US, and she didn’t know what I was talking about. Granted she was just my primary doctor, but still.

[jak547 in reply to Ajo13]

It has not fully passed FDA approval in the US, it is not offered in the US yet by Siemens

[Ajo13 in reply to jak547]

Okay, that makes sense then. They don’t want to order anything here except basic liver enzymes and if those are normal then that’s the end of line.

[jak547 in reply to Ajo13]

all we have over in the states is the Fibrosure either ASH or NASH, I searched for a lab that will do the ELF but no one will do it yet

[GrandmaDylan]

I have cirrhosis but my bloods are virtually normal. My hepatologist thinks it's autoimmune but we're not sure if I should take steroids and aza as there's no way of telling if they're having an effect if my blood's are normal. He has urgently referred me to see a hepatologist who is an expert in autoimmune and other weird liver conditions.