What Is The Alt (sgpt) In The Blood? Role In Treating Liver Disease

ALT is an indicator of liver enzymes, used to assess liver damage and related problems. The abnormal increase of this index is a warning sign of liver problems. The following article will explain the patient's questions about ALT.
What is ALT (SGPT)?
ALT or Alanine aminotransferase is known as a specific enzyme found mostly in liver cells, a small amount in kidney, heart, skeletal muscle.
For normal healthy people, the level of ALT in the blood is low

. However, due to some damage to the liver, ALT is released into the blood and ALT levels in the blood rise.
Your doctor will rely on the ALT test to detect pathological or traumatic liver damage. The higher the level of ALT in the blood, the more severe the damage to the liver This test is often ordered in combination with AST, which is an important test kit for assessing liver function and damage.




When to take ALT tests
When to test for ALT is a question many people are concerned about. Usually, through a history, physical examination, the patient is ordered by a doctor to do ALT tests if there are signs of liver function impairment such as:
- Anorexia, nausea, poor appetite
- Fatigue, fever, weakness
- Abdominal pain, especially in the lower right flank
- Jaundice, yellow eyes, dark urine, lighter stools than usual
- Itching, hives, pimples ... ..
Some other subjects were also prescribed ALT tests such as people who regularly use alcohol, beer, smoking, obesity, exposed to toxic chemicals, people with a history of liver disease, hepatitis A, B virus , C .



..
In addition, the ALT test is also applied in cases such as:
- Monitor the progress of liver diseases (hepatitis, fatty liver, cirrhosis ...)
- Determine the time to apply the treatments for liver disease
- Assess the effectiveness of treatment in the currently used treatment course
Damage to the liver causes ALT levels in the blood to rise. However, the individual ALT test cannot determine the exact level or cause of liver disease. Therefore, the patient will be assigned additional specialized testing methods to accurately diagnose the condition of liver damage
What does the ALT score in the blood mean?
Many patients who are assigned an ALT test do not fully understand what this test means.



The answer is explained as follows:
ALT is a specific indicator of liver enzymes to diagnose and assess liver damage and related problems. ALT in the blood if within the allowable limit ie normal liver function, no signs of serious pathology. But if the ALT increases, a slight increase or increase is also a warning sign for patients about liver damage. If not detected early, treated promptly, the disease can progress to more severe, dangerous and life-threatening complications.
ALT increases slightly to moderate
The level of ALT in the blood of patients with acute, mild hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, ... is expected to increase slightly to moderate if the ALT test is less than 4 times the normal level (index normal from 0-37).



At this increase, liver damage is assessed as mild. However, patients should not be subjective but still have to monitor and test regularly.
The reason for the mild to moderate elevation of ALT in the blood is due to obstruction of the bile ducts, fatty liver ... Also appears in cases of alcohol, beer, heart damage, or tumor in the liver ...



It is also the cause of increased ALT in blood.
High ALT
ALT levels increase or very high if the ALT level in the blood is 100 times higher than the normal level. This is a warning sign of serious liver diseases such as acute or chronic viral hepatitis, drug, chemical damage, liver cell necrosis, prolonged vascular collapse. Especially, ALT can increase to 5,000 UI / L in case of patients with acute liver failure or liver shock.
For patients with acute hepatitis, the ALT level may remain elevated for 1 to 2 months, after treatment, within 3 to 6 months, which will gradually decrease and return to levels. normal.
Besides AST (abbreviated aspartate aminotransferase), ALT test is an essential item in the part of liver function test, which helps diagnose and detect abnormalities in liver function. diseases related to the liver.




Factors that affect the ALT test
In addition to the main cause of the liver, there are a number of other factors that affect ALT levels in the blood. Therefore, the following influencing factors need to be removed for the most accurate diagnosis.
Treatment factors: anticonvulsants, psychiatric drugs, inhibitors of angiotensin metabolism, diuretic thiazide drugs, oral contraceptives, metronidazole, acetaminophen, allopurinol, trifluoperazine ... are drugs that have significant effects. to the ALT test result
Other factors such as supplements and supplements are also one of the factors leading to ALT levels.

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