Get To Know The Causes Of Elevated Liver Enzymes
Elevated liver enzymes mean you have inflammation and damage in your liver. Ladies, most of you find out about this when you get blood tests for something else. The good news is that most cases are mild and don't last forever! Multiple enzymes can be elevated. One of the most common, though, is alanine transaminase! You need follow-up tests and monitoring when your doctor says you have elevated liver enzymes. They have to keep an eye on your liver function and health!
The treatment depends on what causes your liver enzymes to rise. Ladies, when pain medications are the trigger, you will have to stop taking them! Medication adjustments are another elevated liver enzyme treatment. Heart surgery is a significant treatment for heart failure. You also need prompt nonalcoholic fatty liver disease treatment when that condition causes your enzymes to rise. Ladies, weight loss for liver health is another major option. Of course, you have to understand the common causes first!
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is a viral condition. This form affects your liver function! Ladies, you get it by eating contaminated food or water. Of course, contact with someone who has it often means you get it too! Symptoms are things like jaundice, serious itching, pain in your upper right abdomen, and appetite loss. You will often see dark pee and clay-colored stool too. As you would expect, hepatitis A is a trigger for elevated liver enzymes. Doctors find this out through a blood test!
Sadly, there's no specific treatment for hepatitis A. All you can do is rest and wait it out! Of course, avoiding alcohol is vital. Ultimately, preventing it is the better course of action. This often means getting a vaccine for it before traveling to a high-risk location!
OTC Pain Medication
Acetaminophen's a common part of many OTC pain medications. Sadly, ladies, it is also a major trigger for liver damage, including elevated liver enzymes! You're at a high risk when you take this medication for a long time or at really high doses. Ladies, the risk of liver issues is why doctors put dosage directions on this medication. You have to follow these instructions to keep your risk low!
Ladies, only take OTC pain medication as long as you need to. Most of the time, doctors say this has to be limited to 3 to 5 days. If things get worse or don't go away after that, call your doctor! Acetaminophen's the one that causes liver issues like elevated enzymes the most. That said, other OTC medications do it too, like naproxen and ibuprofen. Ladies, be sure to talk to your doctor about the best medication for your needs. This is even more important when you already have liver issues!
Statins
Statins are commonly prescribed for high cholesterol. This medication class also works when you have a high risk of heart attacks or stroke! Experts say statins can even reduce your risk of a second stroke or heart attack by 40 percent. Although this is great, statins do have side effects. Common ones are sleeping problems, abdominal pain, bloating, muscle weakness, and dizziness.
Of course, another side effect is an increase in your liver enzymes! The good news is that it's rare for this to happen. Ladies, keep this risk even lower by taking the lowest effective dose of your statin. Your doctor will help with this. They will also keep an eye on your when you're on this medication. This benefits you too! In most cases, you can keep taking statins when you have mildly elevated liver enzymes. When it gets even higher, though, you have to change medications.
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is another cause of elevated liver enzymes. Ladies, this condition comes from fat cells building too much in your liver! Of course, alcohol consumption isn't the cause, as the name suggests. Instead, the triggers are obesity, high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and high triglycerides. Other risk factors include things like metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, and high cholesterol! Visual symptoms aren't common in this condition. That's why most doctors diagnose it through a blood test done for other reasons. This is usually when they will spot your elevated liver enzymes!
Other tests help confirm the diagnosis, like abdominal ultrasounds, CT scans, and liver biopsies. Ladies, there are treatments for this condition! Most cases need you to lose 10 percent of your body weight. The good news is that you will see improvements after losing just 5 percent! You need treatment because, left untreated, this condition often triggers cirrhosis of the liver. Ultimately, only a liver transplant fixes serious cases of that!
Heart Failure
Heart failure's a common reason for elevated liver enzymes. Ladies, this happens when your heart can't pump enough blood through your body efficiently. This condition's chronic and worsens over time. You need constant treatment for it! Major symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, and swelling in the legs and feet. As mentioned, ladies, expect your liver enzymes to go up too! The reason it happens is the additional stress put on your liver. Other signs to watch for are constant coughing and fast weight gain from retaining fluid. Ladies, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes increase your risk of this. Coronary artery disease does too!
Your doctor diagnoses this one with many tests. Some of the common ones are CT scans, stress tests, echocardiograms, and chest x-rays! They will use blood tests to check on your NT-proBNP levels. Ladies, you need medication for heart failure, like beta-blockers or diuretics! Surgery is also an option, especially in advanced cases. Two options are coronary bypass surgery and heart valve repairs. ICDs and LVADs help too, though severe heart failure eventually means a heart transplant!