Blood test results help...

[Carrollkay]

LDL 85
HDL 46
Blood sugar... 77
I think this is good right??
But my liver is elevated according to them it is at 38 they said it should be under35. Should I worry about this?? Is this from a low carb diet and the term fatty liver. I never drink alchohol.. it's been many years..
Input please..
Lisa

[JerseyGirl1969]

I might be wrong, but this is how I understand it: A fatty liver is not due to what you eat but due to your obesity. You probably are carrying a higher level of visceral fat. That is bad. BUT, this can be reduced with weight loss.

I'd say your levels are otherwise great and wouldn't personally worry about the fatty liver...that will improve with diet and exercise.

There are other HCPs here who might answer this better.

[sugarless4life]

Hi Lisa!

Great great blood test results! Your ratio of LDL to HDL is 1.85 and anything less than 3.3 is very low risk for coronary heart disease! WTG, Girlfriend!

As for your liver enzymes ... from what I've read, normal can be up to 40, so you're still in range ... I also found this info that may be helpful ...

Check out this website: Simple FactSheet: Liver Function Tests

What medications cause abnormal aminotransferase levels?

A host of medications can cause abnormal liver enzymes levels.

Examples include:

Pain relief medications such as:

aspirin,
acetaminophen (Tylenol),
ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin),
naproxen (Naprosyn, Naprelan, Anaprox, Aleve),
diclofenac (Voltaren, Cataflam, Voltaren-XR)), and
phenylbutazone (Butazolidine)
Anti-seizure medications such as:
phenytoin (Dilantin),
valproic acid (Depakote, Depakote ER, Depakene, Depacon),
carbamazepine (Tegretol, Tegretol XR, Equertro), and
phenobarbital

Antibiotics such as:
tetracyclines, [for example, tetracycline (Achromycin)]
sulfonamides,
isoniazid (INH) (Nydrazid, Laniazid)
sulfamethoxazole (Gantanol),
trimethoprim (Trimpex; Proloprim, Primsol)
nitrofurantoin (Macrodantin; Furadantin; Macrobid),
fluconazole (Diflucan ) and some other anti-fungals, etc.

Cholesterol lowering drugs such as:
the statins:
lovastatin (Mevacor, Altocor),
pravastatin (Pravachol),
atorvastatin (Lipitor),
fluvastatin (Lescol),
rosuvastatin (Crestor),
simvastatin (Zocor), and
niacin

Cardiovascular drugs such as:
amiodarone (Cordarone),
hydralazine (Apresoline)
quinidine (Quinaglute, Quinidex), etc.

Other drugs
Anti-depressant drugs of the tricyclic type

With drug-induced liver enzyme abnormalities, the enzymes usually normalize weeks to months after stopping the medications.

Do you take milk thistle at all? Its wonderful for the liver ... google it ... I take 1-2 capsules daily.



Betty

[lisabinil]

Originally Posted by JerseyGirl1969

I might be wrong, but this is how I understand it: A fatty liver is not due to what you eat but due to your obesity. You probably are carrying a higher level of visceral fat. That is bad. BUT, this can be reduced with weight loss.

I'd say your levels are otherwise great and wouldn't personally worry about the fatty liver...that will improve with diet and exercise.

There are other HCPs here who might answer this better.

Fatty liver does not always improve with exercise or weight loss. I am one example. It can come from eating an unhealthy diet loaded with fatty carby processed foods. Mine isn't getting any worse but it didn't magically get better-an ultrasound can tell you if you definitely have this.

[Carrollkay]

Originally Posted by lisabinil

Fatty liver does not always improve with exercise or weight loss. I am one example. It can come from eating an unhealthy diet loaded with fatty carby processed foods. Mine isn't getting any worse but it didn't magically get better-an ultrasound can tell you if you definitely have this.

Hey Lisa
Do you know what your levels are??

[lisabinil]

Originally Posted by Carrollkay

Hey Lisa
Do you know what your levels are??

Nope don't remember. But I have had ultrasounds and a cat scan on my liver-this is important-it shows the extent of the damage from fatty liver disease.

[huskerfan]

Originally Posted by Carrollkay

LDL 85
HDL 46
Blood sugar... 77
I think this is good right??
But my liver is elevated according to them it is at 38 they said it should be under35. Should I worry about this?? Is this from a low carb diet and the term fatty liver. I never drink alchohol.. it's been many years..
Input please..
Lisa

About the liver enzymes, most likely your doctor will have you retest in a few weeks to make sure it wasn't an OTC pill or some other nusiance causing the elevated levels. If the next text comes back high it is extremely important to get a liver scan to see if there is any damage to the liver.

Also, is the high enzyme ALT or AST? ALT is one of the most common elevated enzymes to have-and usually means NASH. It doesn't matter what your number is either. 38 may be no better than 75 and vice versa(although I personally would be encouraged by the low number).

Good Luck and try not to worry too much

[MACXXX]

See this study where they found a low carb diet burns more excess liver fat than a low calorie diet.

Low-carbohydrate diet burns more excess liver fat than low-calorie diet, UT Southwestern study finds

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by Carrollkay

LDL 85
HDL 46
Blood sugar... 77
I think this is good right??
But my liver is elevated according to them it is at 38 they said it should be under35. Should I worry about this?? Is this from a low carb diet and the term fatty liver. I never drink alchohol.. it's been many years..
Input please..
Lisa

These test results are fine, a little low, but fine. Don't be fooled into thinking that cholesterol or blood sugar should be zero. You fasting blood sugar should be 83 mg/dl. Higher than that, particularly 100+ mg/dl and you start to worry about diabetes. Lower than that < 70 mg/dl and you have the same concerns. Any malfunction in regulating blood sugar can be an issue. That said, 77 is fine.

Now the same thing can be said about cholesterol. The only things that really matter at HDL and triglycerides. You HDL is ok, not great, just ok. Getting it over 60 mg/dl would be ideal. You don't list you tri's. If you tri's are very high, that could also be related to your elevated liver enzymes. Tri's should be < 150 mg/dl. As to your LDL, it really does not matter. It is a little low, indicating you are verging on a less healthy lower level of cholesterol. Drive that LDL down to zero and you will die. For women having higher cholesterol as you get older can actually be protective.

[Carrollkay]

My tris are 37

[maizenbluebabe]

re: your liver enzymes, depending on which ones were elevated: if you have used solvents of any kind or been exposed to certain other chemicals recently (in a paint project or refinishing furniture, for example) it can affect some of your liver readings. If a temporary environmental factor is the cause, your enzyme levels ought to drop back to normal after this exposure has been eliminated.