ALT

[Fortyoneandcounting]

Hi I’m new here so please excuse my ignorance.

I had some routine blood tests done and they are all normal apart from slightly low haemoglobin and ALT was 61. GP receptionist rang to say I needed tests repeating without explaining anything. Is this a cause for concern. I have no symptoms except a bloated tummy which I have believed was from endometriosis. I also had Covid in January and I am still fatigued from that (I think)

[AyrshireK]

ALT is an inflammation marker which can (sometimes) indicate issues with the liver but also other organs. Whilst yours is elevated it isn't massively so and that's why your doctor is repeating the test just to determine whether it is a pattern of elevation or a minor blip.

ALT can be elevated when your body is fighting an infection so after a recent bout of covid it wouldn't be surprising to see a rise, however, they need to keep an eye on it because if it is rising then it could potentially indicate something else is going on.

As I said yours is a very minor elevation - when ALT runs into the many hundreds or even thousands in people who actually have an issue a minor elevation of only about 20 units above upper limit of normal certainly isn't something to get alarmed about.

Get the test repeated and take it from there.

All the best,

Katie

[Fortyoneandcounting in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you so much, I do have a bit of health anxiety and I am overweight by a couple of stone and without much explanation from the GP surgery I was worrying.

Thanks again🙂

[Jaygee87]

If you are overweight this is a good place to start making changes. Mine was in the 100s due to being overweight and my liver was showing signs of fibrosis which was very worrying. I lost 2 stone and although I still have elevated ALT, they have reduced since losing weight. I wouldn't be too concerned with that result but take it as a sign to start doing something about your weight if you can.