Blood tests for NASH are finally available direct to patients I've had the blood test myself and the results were very helpful to me.

[nash2]

You may remember that I have been following the development of testing for NASH. As a patient I'm very interested in knowing more about what my status is. We have made arrangements for our members to have access to the LIVERFASt test by Fibronostics. Medicare recently approved the test and it is available now. We will be publishing more information, but if you are interested in taking the test here is a link to the form to get started.

fibronostics.com/flf/

If you would like more information, here is a link to our website. Just a note, the results shown on this page are from my personal tests and I was very pleased with it. I plan to monitor my status on a regular basis.

fattyliverfoundation.org/li...

Wayne

[nash2 Partner]

If you go to the form, you will see that it creates the lab orders and provides for processing your insurance information. There is a private pay option if you need that. It is possible that your doctor won't be keeping up with everything so we will also have information that you can provide to them if you have this test done and want to discuss the results with your care team.

[Justice1872 in reply to nash2]

Wayne. Does the form get completed by the doctor as an order to perform the bloodwork?

[nash2 Partner in reply to Justice1872]

After you complete the form it goes into the medical staff at Fibronostics. They complete the lab order and send that to you which you present to Quest when you get your blood drawn. Once the test is run they send the results to you.

[Juscalmed in reply to nash2]

Hi Wayne, I just tried submitting my info and insurance but I keep getting a response that tells me “ error while submitting form”. I filled out all of the information correctly . Is there another way to submit the form perhaps ?

Thank You

[nash2 Partner in reply to Juscalmed]

Hi D

The company has recently gone through a reorganization and a lot of things are changing. Apparently they have had insurance coverage issues except with Medicare and they have a new CEO. I don't know how that will shake out. They are doing a cash only program but state regs are apparently confused with Covid. What state do you live in? I'll see about how to connect for your area if you want.

[Realy in reply to nash2]

How accurate is these blood tests. Also the levels they test such as alpha2 any any others if elevated can they be brought down. I assume In these reports no activity means the fibrosis is stopped at that point and the work to reduce the fibrosis stopped the activity.

[nash2 Partner in reply to Realy]

Like all of these tests, they are compared to biopsy which is about 85% accurate. These are typically in the 80% plus or minus so they are useful as a guide but everyone is different so specifics will vary. All blood tests are indirect indications of what is going on with the organs so your doc needs to help you understand what may be helpful in your case but in general, if you stop doing what is causing the problem the liver will respond although you mentioned alpha 2 which is a genetic marker so a different disease process.

[Realy in reply to nash2]

the alpha2 macroglobulin is used in some of these blood tests curious as to what there levels do to the liver or levels to get results

[nash2 Partner in reply to Realy]

My mistake, I thought you meant the alpha 2 antitrypsin test. These results are mathematical calculations based upon an artificial intelligence program analyzing thousands of tests. You can study each component from its own perspective and its chemistry with other methods but they don't publish information about what individual values might mean. The math describes a large population, your individual drivers may vary which is why these are guides not diagnostic tools. On average they are pretty good but you have to remember what they actually are.

[Realy in reply to nash2]

I got result of F1-F2 on report it said mild fibrosis, and the activity was no activity. My only level that was out of range was the alpha2 macroglobulin slightly elevated.

[nash2 Partner in reply to Realy]

It isn't just the absolute values, the relationships between different factors is also important. It is looking at the big picture, not test result by test result and at low levels or early stages it is very hard to get a precise picture. The good news, it is far better at identifying advanced fibrosis.

[Realy in reply to nash2]

thanks for the reply ! I’m putting in the work since August since I was told I have fibrosis,steatosis. Lost 45 pounds and got my A1c down from 6.9 to 5.5 Dr told me don’t worry about the numbers just loose the weight and get sugar in control and you will see the changes come. I did a Fibro acti test on my own and those results from 6 months are showing improvement .my ultrasounds as well show minimal steatosis. Dr is happy and had endoscopy and colonoscopy as well all good. Just trying to figure it all out. Fibro test acti test came back mild fibrosis no activity.

[nash2 Partner in reply to Realy]

Sounds like you have it under control. The key is to make it a lifestyle and not just a short term strategy and you should be fine.

[lusitania84 in reply to nash2]

Thanks for the inspiration!

[sodadream]

Hi Wayne, thanks for this, do you know if it's available in Australia, I looked but couldn't see anything. Thanks again

[nash2 Partner in reply to sodadream]

I don't know about Australia, sorry

[grapewizard]

Thanks Wayne, you have been so much help to all of us.

[MLB_77]

Wow! That’s awesome! Nice job

[I_hate_liver_disease]

Hello Wayne. I just submitted my husband's form today and heard back that a Hepatologist will contact us before the blood test order is sent. I'm hoping he'll be able to have the test at our Primary doctor's office (he has a Quest Lab inside his office). We'll soon see. I'll be using it like you do - to confirm what my last Fibroscan - Oct. 2020 and my last MR-Elastography (2/1/2021) showed. Thank you so much for letting us all know about this test.

[nash2 Partner]

Good luck with that. If the lab is an official Quest location they will have the lab order on file when you go in so that should be fine. I'd be interested in your thoughts after you get your results. There are locations that are Quest subcontractors who don't have full access to Quest systems so a call to them to make sure might be a good idea.

[geneticnash in reply to nash2]

I live in a remote area and drove 2 hours yesterday to the nearest Quest location. I am in the Pacific Northwest. While quest had my name and date of birth the orders were not downloaded. I could not get my blood drawn. My recommendation would be to always take a hard copy of the orders with you.

[nash2 Partner in reply to geneticnash]

That's disappointing. First time I've heard of that happening. Would you let Fibronostics know this happened. I know their goal is to have everything run smoothly and will be glad to know that there was a problem.

[geneticnash in reply to nash2]

They are aware and are working with me to reschedule. They are wonderful to work with.

[LaurieRose]

That’s good news

[LaurieRose]

Is this available in the U.K. ?

[nash2 Partner in reply to LaurieRose]

Hi Laurie

I don't know, we are US based

[Maxy6]

What is the difference in this and the Fibrosure lab test? It looks very similar.

[nash2 Partner]

Think of Fibrosure as the first generation test. It uses 6 biomarkers and is designed to report fibrosis. LIVERFASt uses 10 markers and reports inflammation and steatosis grade also.

[Maxy6 in reply to nash2]

Oh, I should get that one then. Will D/W my doc.

[Maxy6 in reply to Maxy6]

Thanks, nash2,

[MW923]

Thank you yes I'm gonna ask my doctor about this test I would probably prefer to do this test versus the fibro scan the fibro scan I've had the blood test for fibrosis and that came back 0 my score was 0.1 but like he said is just a blood test so it's just confusing on what to really do but this test does sound like something I would like to do

[nash2 Partner in reply to MW923]

It is new and approved by medicare but be sure your talk to your insurance company as many haven't started to cover it yet.

[lusitania84]

Thank you so much for this info. I'm very new to all this. At 39, I was just recently diagnosed with a fatty liver. I had an abdominal ultrasound after having a litany of blood tests and labs. My liver enzymes were all normal. The US showed a fatty liver and afterwards both my primary Dr and my GI said that I need not be concerned with any further testing and to just make the lifestyle changes and stick with it and they will repeat the US in a year. Is the purpose of these blood tests to get a true baseline reading and then keep track of your progress in a more detailed kind of way?

[nash2 Partner in reply to lusitania84]

That is what I did but docs rarely do that as insurance will think they are over prescribing. but I believe in monitoring my situation

[Realy in reply to nash2]

My results didn’t agree with fibroscan, I had the fibroscan in August and fibrosis blood test In February and was much lower than fibroscan but I can’t challenge the fibroscan accuracy as I did loose over 45 pounds. Current sonogram normal size liver and Homogenous Parenchyma wich Dr said was good. Dr also liked the blood test he said they are good to use as well as fibroscan.

[nash2 Partner in reply to Realy]

They should be different with that weight loss

[Realy in reply to nash2]

sonogram at time of fibroscan showed slightly enlarged liver with steatosis, recent sonogram normal liver size and homogeneous parenchyma so that also is changing

[Cindyh1958]

How do we find out if insurance will cover the test?

[nash2 Partner in reply to Cindyh1958]

You have to find out if it is in their formulary, call them probably

[Cindyh1958 in reply to nash2]

I am trying access this but the link you provided says page not found. Is there another link?

[nash2 Partner]

Hi Cindy, I'm not sure what you are trying to link to. Can you be more specific?

[Cindyh1958 in reply to nash2]

I am trying to link to the Liverfast forms to obtain the test.

[nash2 Partner in reply to Cindyh1958]

Try this link

link2labs.com/home/home

[Cindyh1958 in reply to nash2]

I got it, thank you! Having the test done on Friday to hopefully get some idea where my liver health stands.

[lusitania84]

The test I recently had was called "NASH Fibrosure" is that basically the same as this one?

[nash2 Partner in reply to lusitania84]

It is similar and is based on the same data