Increased levels of liver enzymes indicate inflammation, injury or damage to liver cells. The most commonly found elevated liver enzymes in blood tests are alanine transaminase, or ALT, and aspartate transaminase, or AST. In most cases, high...
Orange urine and elevated liver function blood tests are caused by a number of liver diseases. Urine that appears orange or darker than normal occurs in people with jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and eyes. Jaundice comes from bilirubin, a...
According to the Mayo Clinic, doctors can assess the health of an individual's liver by performing a liver function panel. A liver function panel is a series of blood tests that measures the levels of enzymes and proteins in the blood. These blood...
The normal function of the liver is to clear toxins, process drugs, make glucose and provide amino acids and other building blocks for the body. When toxins or disease affect the hepatocytes or liver cells, the damaged cells send enzymes into the...
The most commonly used indicators of healthy liver function include the enzymes aspartate aminotransferase, or AST, and alanine aminotransferase, or ALT. When liver injury occurs, these enzymes flood the bloodstream. Blood tests that show high...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 3.2 million Americans are living with chronic hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a contagious disease that infects the liver and causes inflammation, preventing the liver from properly...
Tests that evaluate liver function include several enzymes found in the heart, skeletal muscle and red blood cells in addition to the liver. The greatest concentration of alanine aminotransferase, sometimes called ALT or sometimes SGPT and...
During a routine blood test, your doctor may discover that you have elevated liver enzymes. This means that your liver is inflamed and secreting larger quantities of chemicals than it normally does. Most of the time, this happens as a result of a...
Protease inhibitors (PI) are a class of medication developed to fight HIV infection. They work by blocking the protease enzyme, which results in copies of HIV that are unable to infect other cells. There are only a few FDA-approved PIs, all of...
Testing levels of various substances in the blood can provide information about how the liver is functioning and whether it is currently sustaining damage. These blood tests are collectively referred to as liver function tests, or LFTs. LFTs can...
Hepatitis C is a virus that targets the liver. According to the CDC, approximately 17,000 people become infected with hepatitis C every year in the United States, though only 849 were reported in 2007. Of those 17,000 people, about four percent...
Liver enzymes are proteins inside your liver cells. The enzymes help your liver perform its functions, which include getting rid of toxins, processing medicines, storing and releasing sugars, and storing vitamins and minerals. Liver enzymes can...
Hepatitis C is a liver condition caused by the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis C is diagnosed by a blood test, and it usually does not self-resolve. In some cases hepatitis C can cause liver scarring or liver cancer, and some people who have been...
According to the Mayo Clinic, liver function tests are blood tests that doctors use to determine whether a patient has a damaged or diseased liver. Some of the tests assay the blood levels of certain enzymes that the liver secretes into the blood...
The liver is an organ located just below the diaphragm in humans and is made up of four lobes. The left lobe, right lobe, quadrate lobe and caudate lobe make up the structure of the liver. Each of the lobes of the liver consist of liver lobules,...
Milk thistle, also known as silybum marianum, is an herb whose properties have strong effects on the function of the liver. Used by herbalists for hundreds of years, milk thistle has been touted as a treatment for hepatitis, liver failure,...
Your liver is the largest internal organ in your body. It performs many essential functions, including storage of digested nutrients; production of important blood proteins such as albumin and clotting factors; removal of toxic compounds, drugs...
Infectious mononucleosis, commonly abbreviated as just "mono," is a viral illness caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. It is one of the most common viral illnesses in humans. One of the effects of this infection is liver inflammation. This can be...
Zocor, or simvastatin, is in a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins. Drugs.com states Zocor is an effective drug in lowering the risk of a heart attack and drug by decreasing LDL-the type of cholesterol responsible for increased risk...
An elevation of the liver enzymes indicates damage or inflammation to the liver cells. When this happens, these enzymes leak out into the bloodstream, where they can be detected and measured with blood tests. The causes for elevation of the liver...
The Cleveland Clinic defines fatty liver as a liver with 5 to 10 percent of its weight in fat. Fatty liver can develop from alcohol abuse, certain medications or medical conditions, such as diabetes. Making some lifestyle changes can treat fatty...
According to the Hepatitis B Foundation, the hepatitis B virus transmits itself through body fluids such as blood-to-blood contact, unprotected sex, used needles or from a mother to infant during delivery. Failure to diagnose and treat hepatitis B...
A liver function test is a blood test used to determine any disease, damage or impact on the liver. The health of the hepatic, or liver, system is reflected in this panel of tests that include clotting abilities, liver enzymes and bilirubin...
The liver is one of the largest and most important organs in the body, in charge of detoxifying the body of noxious substances, and of processing ingested food into energy for use by other organs. The liver contains a number of enzymes to aid in...
