I quit drinking a couple months ago because I wanted to get healthy. I’ve never been diagnosed with any liver disease but I have drank 3+ drinks a night the last 15 years with some mini breaks and a dry January here and there.
I went to the doctor for a full checkup and my ast and alt were in normal range but the ratio was greater than 2. Does anyone know if that counts as suggestive of alcoholic liver disease or do they have to be raised plus the ratio. I know people can have cirrhosis with normal ranges and doc said reassuring within the normal range but the ratio scares me
Thoughts?
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Hellobirdy
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The ratio scared me too, but according to what I have read, it is does not mean much if ALT and AST are in the normal range, although some here would disagree. But then I am no doctor. I believe De Ritis has caused a lot of undue worry to many here. To put your mind at rest you could go for a fibroscan maybe.
Thank you. It’s all so scary. My doctor says reassuring since within limits and all other labs look good...but I worry about it being missed. She doesn’t think insurance will cover a scan but I may pay out of pocket. Appreciate your response!
Agreed. I had a private fibroscan. It was the equivalent of about £150 which was the test itself and a consultation with the doctor after.
All was OK* Bizarrely, the aches and pains I’d been having since I’d quit alcohol several months before stopped almost that very day. You’d think psychosymatic stuff was nonsense, but maybe in my case a lot of it was in my mind.
* I say OK but my reading was 7KPa which is the high end of normal. Maybe it gets lower with time and no alcohol, but I’d have liked a lower reading, so there’s even more incentive to stay healthy I guess.
I had an ultrasound, fibroscan of sorts, and MRT with contrast agent. And why so many? Because of two doctors who should be struck off: Dr. Google and Dr. De-ritis LOL
I've panicked about the de ritis ratio too. I have a lot of symptoms but nothing has anything ever been found. I've had 2 ultrasounds, several sets of LFTs, 2 fibroscans, an ELF test and a CT scan and all were normal except the ELF test which was borderline. My de ritis is 1.3 which is indicative of cirrhosis, but my latest fibroscan was 3.3 kpa. Also my fib4 is 0.7 so I found it all very confusing as one incidative of cirrhosis but the other was F0-1. I still have symptoms but I'm tee total now so some are subsiding at a snails pace. I think the fact you've quit alcohol, bloods were in range and no other symptoms that you really have nothing to worry about. X
If de ritis of 1.3 is indicative of cirrhosis and numerous fibroscans and state of the art MRT Siemens devices with contrast agent of many here including myself point to a perfectly healthly liver, one of them is lying big time. Either all the state of the art devices are telling you porkies or de-ritis is!
I agree. When you're worried you tend to dwell on the bad rather than take the good. So I was worried for some time hence the CT scan with contrast which was the latest thing I had done. I had to go private as my GP wouldn't send me for further tests as all was looking good but I was still worried. I think now I have accepted I don't have cirrhosis, but I will continue to stay tee total as I don't need the added worry of alcohol 😂.
Yes! After I have my pay out of pocket scan, I’ll be staying away too. Glad everything has worked out for you ☺️ Were your labs within normal limits as well?
I just received blood results for an insurance application and they flagged my ratio as being 2.6. I looked it up and this ridiculousness says >2.0 is alcoholic hepatitis. Well I haven't had a drink in 40 years! It also said if the individual numbers are low (they are), the ratio being high can be from muscle or thyroid disease. No muscle disease and thyroid testing within range. This is so crazy. My blood is basically perfect and yet they have this thing flagged like I'm dying. I went through old bloodwork. In the past 13 years I have 10 blood tests from 6 different doctors. ALL show basically the same AST/ALT numbers. All within range (a couple times the ALT was slightly low). What the results DON'T show is a "ratio". Probably because it's nonsense! Six doctors all said bloodwork was excellent. Nobody flagged a problem. All other liver indicators were in range. But this insurance company will probably quote a high rate because of this ratio. Was De Ritis getting kickbacks from insurance??? Lol
So your enzyme levels were within normal limits but the ratio was high and they flagged it? Or did they flag it because the enzymes were out of range with a high ratio? May I ask your numbers?
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