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<blockquote data-quote="Tweetybird1" data-source="post: 2745775" data-attributes="member: 383846">First you said &quot;Slightly raised ALT&quot;, then you said &quot;those high level enzymes.&quot;&nbsp; It would help if I knew what your AST is.Why did you choose to focus on hepatitis C?&nbsp; And from 1987?&nbsp; Interesting.&nbsp; ALT is alanine aminotransferase.&nbsp; It&#039;s an enzyme found primarily in liver cells so this test is often used to diagnose hepatocellualr (liver cell) destruction.&nbsp; When liver cells are destroyed the enzyme is released into the blood.&nbsp; The normal range for adults is 10-35 U/L and it may be slightly higher in males.&nbsp; The lab that ran your test may use a somewhat different range from my hospital lab.&nbsp; A slight increase can be due to cirrhosis but also to several other non-liver related causes.&nbsp; And it can be elevated by several drugs, including some antibiotics.&nbsp; If your elevation is slight, you shouldn&#039;t worry yourself.I know you&#039;re concerned about HCV and you may already know that often there are no symptoms but you can bring up your concerns tomorrow and ask if you should be tested for HCV.&nbsp; There are antibody tests and viral RNA tests.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tweetybird1, post: 2745775, member: 383846"] First you said "Slightly raised ALT", then you said "those high level enzymes." It would help if I knew what your AST is. Why did you choose to focus on hepatitis C? And from 1987? Interesting. ALT is alanine aminotransferase. It's an enzyme found primarily in liver cells so this test is often used to diagnose hepatocellualr (liver cell) destruction. When liver cells are destroyed the enzyme is released into the blood. The normal range for adults is 10-35 U/L and it may be slightly higher in males. The lab that ran your test may use a somewhat different range from my hospital lab. A slight increase can be due to cirrhosis but also to several other non-liver related causes. And it can be elevated by several drugs, including some antibiotics. If your elevation is slight, you shouldn't worry yourself. I know you're concerned about HCV and you may already know that often there are no symptoms but you can bring up your concerns tomorrow and ask if you should be tested for HCV. There are antibody tests and viral RNA tests. [/QUOTE]

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