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What Does The Following Blood Test Report Indicate?

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Posted on Wed, 26 Apr 2017
Question: Hello, I had a blood test today and my ast was 29 and alt was 43 well within the range. How could it spike so much 3 weeks earlier ast 67 and alt 112 ? I think it was from the casodex and Lupron. Thank you , XXXXXXX Kay
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Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (40 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
it's possible

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

it's clear that both drugs may indeed raise the liver function tests. The test reports alone are not enough to diagnose a drug side effect. Other causes have to be excluded first. A drug is considered to be causing a side effect if:
- the side effect is adequately documented in medical literature
- if the symptom/finding occurred after initiating treatment
- if the symptom/findings disappeared after stopping treatment
- if the symptom/finding occurred again after re-initiating treatment
- if other potential causes are excluded
- if the symptom/finding occurred again in the past after using the same drug
etc

So it's not easy to say for sure whether a symptom/finding can be attributed to a side effect or not. It is possible indeed but it's not certain.

Kind Regards!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 3809 Questions

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What Does The Following Blood Test Report Indicate?

Brief Answer: it's possible Detailed Answer: Hello, it's clear that both drugs may indeed raise the liver function tests. The test reports alone are not enough to diagnose a drug side effect. Other causes have to be excluded first. A drug is considered to be causing a side effect if: - the side effect is adequately documented in medical literature - if the symptom/finding occurred after initiating treatment - if the symptom/findings disappeared after stopping treatment - if the symptom/finding occurred again after re-initiating treatment - if other potential causes are excluded - if the symptom/finding occurred again in the past after using the same drug etc So it's not easy to say for sure whether a symptom/finding can be attributed to a side effect or not. It is possible indeed but it's not certain. Kind Regards!