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Blood work and liver functioning

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    #16
    Blood work and liver functioning

    That is most helpful and thank you so much.

    My father died of alcoholic cirrosis at a very young age. He developed eosophageal varices and virtually bled to death. I always wondered why he succumed so young, (39 yead old) when many people who drink as much can go on for a long, long time.

    My own liver functions were not so great. I went onto milkthistle and high doses of vitamin B and much to my relief they returned to normal, despite continueing drinking. I was then on about a bottle and a half of wine a day. If I understand correctly though, that relief might be misplaced.

    One blood result that always puzzled me though was my red blood cells in a full blood cell count. It did show that my red blood cell's capacity to carry oxygene had been affected. I was doing a lot of endurance running at the time and the doctor said that it could have been due to the long distances that I ran and loosing iron in my sweat. He then said that people who drank high quantities of alcohol also had these pale, big, funny shaped red blood cells.

    At the moment I so want to be free from alcohol and all the health hazzards. Moderation is not an option. I have seen what cirrosis does and the ugliness of the death. I would never want to put my family though that horror.

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      #17
      Blood work and liver functioning

      This article is available online at
      Special Considerations in Interpreting Liver Function Tests - April 15, 1999 - American Academy of Family Physicians

      Although Bill is right that biopsy is still the gold standard, blood work results used optimally are getting very close, enough so that the need for many biopsies is eliminated. See for example, doi:10.3748/wjg.15.2190 which references the SAFE virtual biopsy.

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        #18
        Blood work and liver functioning

        My liver function tests came back normal however I have a constant pain in my liver area. I am going to request having an ultrasound of my upper abdoman which will check my liver, gallbladder, spleen and pancreas. I did some research online and came to this conclusion. Hopefully my dr. will be okay w/ ordering this test. The website I looked at said, "if you suspect your liver may not be functioning properly, or may be diseased, ask your doctor to check it."

        I just feel I need my liver checked further due to the continuing pain and b/c the liver function tests may not hold all of the answers!!!
        "One day at a time. Messy bed, Messy head."
        March 13, 2012

        Goal #1: 7 days 3/19/12 DONE
        Goal #2: 15 days 3/27/12
        Goal #3: 30 days 4/11/12
        Goal #4: 60 days 5/11/12
        Goal #5: 90 days 6/10/12
        Goal #6: 6 months
        Goal #7: 1 year

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