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What Does My Blood Test Report Indicate?

Posted on Thu, 20 Aug 2015

Question: i recently had blood work done, and my ALT was a little high, at 64. My other functions were good, and my doctor said not to worry and that it was probably due to my slightly high cholesterol (224). My Albumin was 4.8, my bilirubin was .6, and my AST was 23. He knows i drink 2-3 glasses of wine a night, and said not to worry. Something about the ast/alt ratios. Do you concur that there shouldn't be a reason for concern?

Answered by Dr. T Chandrakant (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Repeat tests including for GGT and alk phosphatase

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your query.
Read and understood your history and findings.
If all other reports are normal except ALT, I would recommend to repeat the test of LFT.
Here AST/ALT ratio is below normal, hence nothing to worry.
What about GGT and Alk Phosphatase report..

Please give feedback, so that we can discuss further.
And it is sure that you have to abstain from any alcoholic beverages

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. T Chandrakant (5 hours later)

thank you for answering. my alk phos was 61. I don't see GGT, could there be another acronym? I probably should have prefaced that the reason for the blood test to begin with was i had a flu like virus, and the DR was trying to determine if it was a virus, bacterial infection, or something else.

what is a LFT? I didn't see that either. this whole thing worries me.

Also, i picked up my lab results from a month prior to the ones i have you. This was done while i wasn't feeling sick, and i fasted prior to the test. My numbers were are as follows:

albumin: 4.7
globulins: 2.7
bilirubin: .5
Alk Phos 46
ALT (SGPT): 25
AST (SGOT): 19

do you think these are more normal levels, and the ALT spike on the last test could be due to being sick and not fasting? I took a lot of Tylenol and Ibuprofen the week prior to the high test due to fever. i can't imagine a jump that fast in a month would be due to alcohol?

Answered by Dr. T Chandrakant (18 hours later)

Brief Answer:
As explained

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for your feedback.
LFT means liver function tests.
GGT is equivalent of alkaline phosphatase and if both or either (you have alkaline phosphatase) are also raised along with ALT and/or AST the worry is more.
May I please know the normal values/range of alkaline phosphatase in your reports?
Do you have any clinical symptoms like loss of appetite or loss of weight, weakness or just a strong feeling of not-feeling-well ?
If you do not have any clinical symptoms, please stop worrying.

Now how are the flu like symptoms?
Your old reports look normal. (Always attach the normal range values as every lab may have different reference values).
Otherwise old report looks normal.
Spike in a single value needs re-testong.
Ratios are not very important.
Tylenol Ibuprofen can cause some changes.

Alcohol is one of the most important factors in deranged liver function tests.

I hope this answers helps you.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar