ALT - Angry Liver Things

What is ALT?

From WebMD….

An alanine aminotransferase (ALT) test measures the amount of this enzyme in the blood. ALT is found mainly in the liver, but also in smaller amounts in the kidneys, heart , muscles, and pancreas . ALT was formerly called serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT).

ALT is measured to see if the liver is damaged or diseased. Low levels of ALT are normally found in the blood. But when the liver is damaged or diseased, it releases ALT into the bloodstream, which makes ALT levels go up. Most increases in ALT levels are caused by liver damage.

The ALT test is often done along with other tests that check for liver damage, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and bilirubin. Both ALT and AST levels are reliable tests for liver damage.

Makes perfect sense right?!?!

Yeah I thought the same thing. So what does all that mean for those of us without all the letters after our names? It means if this number is too high your liver is sick. The longer that number stays up the more damage that is potentially being done. Which leads to more scary things like long term issues, transplants and on and on and on. So I remember it by my own acronym - ALT Angry Liver Things.

With the last blood work we found out that the boy’s numbers have dropped drastically in one month! HURRAY! He is at 144 now… and the goal is to get it under 40. Or "normal". This is one time we are shooting for something normal around here!