today I had a fibro scan which revealed that my liver has no scarring with a score of 3.9kpa which was good news, however, the cap score was 307 which was worrying.
I gave up alcohol 6 months ago following an attack of acute pancreatitis and being hospitalised for 4 days, this event was enough for me to decide to stop my bottle of wine habit of 20 years altogether.
The doctors tell me that alcohol is the cause of my pancreatitis and I don't doubt them, but my LFT's over the last couple of years have shown an ALP level at the upper limit or slightly over the max, so I don't know why this is or if its related.
I'm now puzzling over why the cap score is still high despite not drinking for 6 months. I guess my diet and lack of exercise it mostly to blame so plan to address this in the coming months. My BMI is 25 and I'm 63 male, with normal cholesterol controlled by statin.
I'm seeing a liver consultant in a couple of weeks, and it will be interesting to hear what they say and it would be interesting to hear thoughts from anyone else who has had a similar experience.
Written by
WalterFred
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You liver has taken 20 years of a battering and it is going to take some time to catch up with your wonderful lifestyle changes in halting your wine - you'll hopefully eventually get rid of the alcohol related aspect of your liver issues.
You probably hit the nail on the head when you said (and I quote) "diet and lack of exercise it mostly to blame" - the fastest rising condition affecting the liver these days is Non Alcohol Related Fatty Liver Disease [NAFLD] or as it is now called Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease [MASLD] - the treatment for which is healthy diet and exercise.
You've had a combination of things attacking your liver and you need to get to grips with them all and hopefully by the time you have a repeat scan you'll see that fat content decreasing.
Perhaps ask them to check your lipase levels. It's bile acid and lipase that breaks down fat in the internal organs. Do you have any digestive problems (e.g. episodes of diarrhoea) that might indicate that you have a bile acid disorder?
Thanks for the leaflets, there are some good ideas and recommendations so I will take them onboard.
When I was in hospital they checked my amalyse level which was 14 times the upper limit, this is one of the key indicators for pancreatic inflammation. My levels have now dropped back to normal and I dont have digestive issues so I dont think I have any bile issues.
I had similar fibroscan results to yours when first tested 2 years ago. The first thing that alerted me was my top of the range ALP score and pain in my right side rib cage. Since then I’ve had another fibroscan with similar results: kPa 5 and CAP 261. My ALP scores are consistently at the top end of the normal range or slightly higher. My other LFTs are fine. I’m still overweight BMI 27 and have difficulty exercising because I have arthritis behind the kneecap and am awaiting an operation but 12-14 month waiting time. I’ve tried to find out what causes the high ALP score but nothing untoward shows up on ultrasound. The doctors aren’t concerned as they say it’s not much above normal range so I don’t worry about it. I am managing my fatty liver condition by doing a whole grain plant based diet with occasional meat and dairy and trying to do as many steps a day as I can manage.
If you find anything out I’d be interested to know and good luck on your journey.
thanks for the comments, after the fibroscan I was discussing the result with the liver nurse and asked why my ALP had been consistently on the upper limit or over for the last couple of years.
He said that one of the causes of an ALP increase is bile duct related and that I may have some liver and bile duct inflammation, the liver can't feel pain but the bile ducts can and gallbladder.
Another cause of raised ALP is related to bone injury or intestinal problems, specialised tests are needed to determine whether its bile duct, bone or intestine-related.
I also have osteoarthritis in my knees and haven't exercised much over the last few years, but this weekend I went swimming and cycling to be more active. Maybe my ALP is osteoarthritis-related.
After the fibroscan they took some blood samples to check everything including thyroid, vitamin D and a multitude of viruses.
Thanks to the wonderful NHS websites, I've already seen some results online which show low vitamin D and possibly under/over active thyroid.
I'm seeing a liver consultant on the 3rd July so will post an update afterwards.
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