Medical question

[mwbernstein]

I went to the doctor and had a checkup. I've been a heavy drinker for 20+ years and have been terrified to have blood work done in the last five.

my ALT came back at 23 which was normal my GTT with slightly elevated by three points, but I drank a week before the test, which could bring up that number up. In the last panel my ASL ( I think that's it) was elevated by one point.

the doctor told me the ALT was the most important, and was very much in range. I was wondering could you still have cirrhosis of the liver but still have fairly normal blood work.

[NoMoreWineThisTime]

Medical question

Maybe you are fine!

From what I have read, it seems something would show up in the blood work, if you have damage.


The four most common medical consequences of alcohol abuse are:

High blood pressure
Liver damage
Red blood cell damage
Depression

There is a simple blood test that can check for liver damage. Your doctor can check for liver damage by testing three liver enzymes (AST, ALT, GGT). These enzymes normally occur inside your liver cells. When your liver is damaged, the enzymes are released into your blood stream and show up on a blood test. Therefore the higher the enzyme count the greater the liver damage. The most accurate of these test for alcohol liver damage is GGT.

Even if you have liver damage, your liver can repair itself. Your liver is designed to filter toxins from your blood, therefore it's designed to take care of itself. All you have to do is stop drinking and it will gradually go back to normal.

Repeated liver damage can cause cirrhosis. Your liver is a remarkable organ, but it can only repair itself so many times. If you continue to damage it with alcohol abuse, after a while your liver won't be able to repair itself and it will turn into scar tissue. Cirrhosis is just the medical term that means part of your liver has turned into scar tissue.

But there's good news. Cirrhosis is not a progressive disease. If you stop drinking, any cirrhosis you have will not get worse as long as you don't have advanced cirrhosis. There's even more good news. Your liver is a big organ and you have more liver than you need. People can lose 30% of their liver in a car accident and still lead normal lives. So if you have less than 30% cirrhosis and you stop drinking, you can lead a normal life. Your doctor can do an ultrasound to see if you have cirrhosis, and estimate what percent cirrhosis you may have.

Alcohol abuse can damage your red blood cells. When your red blood cells are damaged by alcohol they swell up and increase in volume. Your doctor can do a simple blood test to check for that. It's called MCV (mean corpuscular volume). If your red blood cells are enlarged, they're usually repairable since they get recycled by your body every 3-4 months. Stop drinking and they'll quickly return to normal.

[Lavande]

Medical question

Take a look at this link - it may make you feel better

Diagnosing Cirrhosis: Blood Tests, Ultrasound and Biopsy?> - Health & Wellness - Tree.com

If your liver is not enlarged or hardened or tender on physical exam you most likely do not have a serious probelm. Your blood levels will normalize fairly quickly when you quit drinking. Actually your bloodwork sounds pretty good

[nancy]

Medical question

blood test results

This has come up on this forum before and I believe the answer is that you can't take clear blood test results as a sign that you are all clear of damage. You should do a search for old posts. I think the member Determinator has written about this but it's been a long time, and I am not sure I am remembering correctly.

[Determinator]

Medical question

sadly, by the time liver disease is advanced enough to show up 'red flags' on bloodwork serious damage has been done. this is because the liver is such a tough and amazing organ, but it has it's limits and once it starts to go from inflammation (the body's immune system reaction to cellular damage within the organ) to necrosis (cell death) then it's downhill pretty fast. this is serious stuff and we only get one liver unless you are really super lucky (and also very wealthy) and receive a transplant. What worries me is that many folks that have drank heavily for years get a test or two, see that it's ok then return to drinking. then years, or maybe months later(so hard to say) when they become sick with jaundice they feel like they've been tricked and want a do-over. our liver already has a heck of a job dealing with modern environmental toxins like pollution and food contaminants etc. without a chronic liver toxin like alcohol.

[greeneyes]

Medical question

spamhead, and of course the post is now deleted so disregard that.

[Hypernova]

Medical question

Ugh, why we drink when the downside is so enormous. A little research led me to a site with a lot of eyeopening facts. It is actually scary what alcohol does to the body over time and with chronic use.
Cirrhosis of the Liver Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment on MedicineNet.com

There's also a good link from the same article on Metabolic Syndrome. Very enlightening and once again if you need some more reasons to quit read this also.
Metabolic Syndrome Signs, Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and Prevention on MedicineNet.com

All in all I find correct info along with good reasoning will lead a prudent person to at least question their use of alcohol and its effects on the body. I for one need hard evidence to motivate me to do something. If someone tells me or I think to myself drinking is bad and can ruin your life I just brush it off and keep on going. However if I read and reason things out I am forced to at least take a look and wonder, what if. Good luck to all & I hope this info is useful to some if not all.

I think George Bernard Shaw was right when he said "Youth is wasted on the young"