Liver ALT increase (13 to 41 within a year) should I be worried?

[SickOfItstill]

Hi all,

Hopefully someone can advise. I have routine yearly blood tests, last year my liver ALT Reading was at 13 and this year it’s shot up to 41. I’m a 25 year old slim Male.

I spoke to the urologist today over the phone and that’s how I heard about it - he told me it’s nothing to be worried about, I think he could still hear from the tone of my voice that I was worried and he then told me he isn’t just saying that to make me happy haha. Despite this I am still slightly worried, I’ve never had liver issues before, my checkups are for other conditions from birth.

What I want to know is:

- is it normal for them to raise that much within a year? (I’ve been in lockdown the last 3 months, almost no exercise, which I will change soon but as I mentioned I’m very slim, hardly have fat on me - could this affect the reading?)

-Can ALT readings decrease?

- Do ALT Readings fluctuate a lot? For example if I was to have another blood test tomorrow could the test come back with lower ALT reading than the one last week?

- on the same day about 10 minutes before the blood test this year I had an ultrasound, I held a very full bladder before the blood test, Would this have had an impact?

Sorry if these questions are ridiculous, I just get so anxious when it comes to my health ahhhhh.

Hopefully someone can shed some light

[CarpeDiem11]

It is common practice to have a u/s scan on the same day as bloods are taken and no this would not have impacted your blood results.

Secondly, it is normal for ALT levels to fluctuate and really, whilst your score may seem high to you, for perspective, when I was diagnosed with AIH (auto-immune liver disease) my ALT level was around 1000. (yes 3 zeros, not a typo).

Thirdly, I know people who have had this sort of level with their ALT and everything else was normal, and then next time the bloods were taken (within a few months), the ALT was back down. So, yes they can decrease. Even when you are very sick, it is uncommon for bloods to be taken weekly.

Lastly, in this community we cannot comment on specific figures as labs vary so much and guidelines state that we cannot comment on them since we are not medically qualified, which is why I have not referred to your numbers specifically. However, I hope what I have written has helped to put your mind at rest. Your urologist was not just fobbing you off. Usually they would not go off just one result anyway, they would be looking for trends, unless they were well out of range (as mine were) and they need answers.

Good luck and hope you can relax now.

[Hidden]

Hiya,

I’m not a professional by any means but I think a one off slight elevation in ALT wouldn’t be anything to worry about. All liver enzymes fluctuate so unless there’s a massive increase or a long term trend prompting further investigation then I would perhaps just keep an eye on what the result is when you next have your bloods done.

Similar to CarpeDiem11, my ALT has been off the charts in the past, but I have PBC rather than AIH. X