what do liver doctors do if your liver enzymes are high?!


Question: What do liver doctors do if your liver enzymes are high?
When your liver enzymes are elevated, what does your liver doctor usually do about that?

Answers:

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The doctor should check them again at a later date (maybe a month or so) and see if they are still high. They will want to know if they are staying high all the time or if its just a one time thing that goes away. It also depends on high high the enzymes are because no doctor is going to freak about a level that is just a litttle bit above normal. If they are significantly higher, then they want to know what is causing it.

If they do the liver function test several times and they remain high, they will want to do an ultrasound and/or CT scan to try to see what is going on with the liver. If the liver is enlarged and there is something more they want to know about it, the very best test is to get a biopsy done which will clearly show any problems with the liver. They only do a biopsy as a last resort to figure things out. They will do the less invasive testing first.

I had liver failure and a transplant.



Mine--I kid you not--says, with a straight face, "Exercise twice as much and eat half as much." (Yeah, that's really helpful. See how that goes over with your plump office manager.)

If you are overweight, losing the weight in a safe way can help, but needing to do it for your health instead of for your vanity doesn't make it any easier.

You will be tested for all the forms of hepatitis and treated if you have them. If you do not, you'll be advised to be vaccinated against A and B. If your elevated enzymes are due to damage from alcoholism, you will be advised to stop drinking completely. (I can still drink, woo-hoo!) They may schedule sonograms or scans, so they can see if it's getting worse over time, and they'll talk to you about liver cancer and the increased odds of the need for a transplant, and how long the waiting list is.

What fun, huh?




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