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What Causes An Increase In The GGT Levels?
Question: I am 71 years of age active and still working. My GGT levels have been below 30 in the past. They have increased as follows.
May 2013 - 31U/L
April 2014 - 47 U/L
October 2014 - 122 U/L
February 2015 - 142 U/L
What should I check for or should not worry.
XXXX
May 2013 - 31U/L
April 2014 - 47 U/L
October 2014 - 122 U/L
February 2015 - 142 U/L
What should I check for or should not worry.
XXXX
Brief Answer:
alcohol use or fatty liver probably
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
you haven't mentioned the values of the other liver enzymes like SGOT (AST), SGPT (ALT) and the alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Also no notion about your medical history. So please answer the following questions to help me assess your situation better:
- are you taking any drugs?
- anything worth noting from your medical history? Any history of liver disease in particular?
- are you drinking alcohol?
- have you done any ultrasound scan of the liver and gallbladder?
The above are some essential bits of information.
I'll be waiting for your input.
alcohol use or fatty liver probably
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
you haven't mentioned the values of the other liver enzymes like SGOT (AST), SGPT (ALT) and the alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Also no notion about your medical history. So please answer the following questions to help me assess your situation better:
- are you taking any drugs?
- anything worth noting from your medical history? Any history of liver disease in particular?
- are you drinking alcohol?
- have you done any ultrasound scan of the liver and gallbladder?
The above are some essential bits of information.
I'll be waiting for your input.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
are you taking any drugs? For over 2 years I have been taking the following per day:- 20 mg Nexium : 4 mg Atacand : 2X 1000 mg Fish oil: USANA Vitamins Mega Antioxidant & Multimineral:2 tabs of Glucosamine + Chondroitin + MSM.
- anything worth noting from your medical history? Any history of liver disease in particular? None. Blood pressure 135/90.
- are you drinking alcohol? Social drinking may be once or twice per month.
- have you done any ultrasound scan of the liver and gallbladder?
Abdominal Ultrasound: "Mild fatty infiltration of liver. No focal hepatic lesion. The rest of the study is normal."
GGT ALP AST alt
May 2013 - 31U/L 64 32 33
April 2014 - 47 U/L 79 28 27
October 2014 -122 U/L 78 28 30
February 2015-142 U/L 73 42 41
- anything worth noting from your medical history? Any history of liver disease in particular? None. Blood pressure 135/90.
- are you drinking alcohol? Social drinking may be once or twice per month.
- have you done any ultrasound scan of the liver and gallbladder?
Abdominal Ultrasound: "Mild fatty infiltration of liver. No focal hepatic lesion. The rest of the study is normal."
GGT ALP AST alt
May 2013 - 31U/L 64 32 33
April 2014 - 47 U/L 79 28 27
October 2014 -122 U/L 78 28 30
February 2015-142 U/L 73 42 41
Brief Answer:
Can be attributed to the fatty liver
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
thanks for the information!
All seem to be caused by the fatty liver which may induce a small elevation of ALP levels. The transaminases seem to be somewhat higher in the last test too, although not abnormal.
Since ALP is the only biochemical finding, one should also consider bone disease, although symptoms should have been evident. If you don't have any pain, then you can safely attribute the ALP to the fatty liver.
I hope you find my answer helpful!
If you'd like to ask for clarification, I'll be glad to provide them.
Kind Regards!
Can be attributed to the fatty liver
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
thanks for the information!
All seem to be caused by the fatty liver which may induce a small elevation of ALP levels. The transaminases seem to be somewhat higher in the last test too, although not abnormal.
Since ALP is the only biochemical finding, one should also consider bone disease, although symptoms should have been evident. If you don't have any pain, then you can safely attribute the ALP to the fatty liver.
I hope you find my answer helpful!
If you'd like to ask for clarification, I'll be glad to provide them.
Kind Regards!
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
I walk 4 km in about 43 minutes and exercise 15 minutes after that in a home gym about 3 to 4 days a week. My weight from 105 kg three years ago has now dropped to 94 kg. What can be attributed to the fatty liver. I have not changed my diet and do not eat oily food. How do I get rid of the fatty liver? Thanks.
Brief Answer:
Loosing weight
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
you haven't mentioned your height but I suppose you have to be overweight. You can calculate your body mass index (BMI) by dividing your weight (in Kg) with your height (in meters) in the power of 2. For example if you are 180cm tall and weigh 94Kg your BMI would be (94/1.8)/1.8 = 29. Less than 25 means normal weight. 25-29 means overweight. 30 or more means obese.
Let the mirror and the scale guide your progress to a more appropriate body weight. No medication is needed, unless you've got medical problems that contribute to being overweight like the thyroid disease. Loosing the excess weight would help reduce the fat in the liver and soon after you achieve that, the enzymes should return to normal.
Kind Regards!
Loosing weight
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
you haven't mentioned your height but I suppose you have to be overweight. You can calculate your body mass index (BMI) by dividing your weight (in Kg) with your height (in meters) in the power of 2. For example if you are 180cm tall and weigh 94Kg your BMI would be (94/1.8)/1.8 = 29. Less than 25 means normal weight. 25-29 means overweight. 30 or more means obese.
Let the mirror and the scale guide your progress to a more appropriate body weight. No medication is needed, unless you've got medical problems that contribute to being overweight like the thyroid disease. Loosing the excess weight would help reduce the fat in the liver and soon after you achieve that, the enzymes should return to normal.
Kind Regards!
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Sorry I did not give you this information. I am 1.9 meters tall. This will make my body mass index 26. Hence over weight is unlikely to be the problem.
Brief Answer:
Being overweight does not exclude the diagnosis
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I'll give you a list of possible causes of this condition but being overweight even if only mildly so, does not exclude the causative relationship.
The most common causes are diabetes mellitus, alcohol abuse and obesity.
Other potential causes may be the following conditions:
- rapid weight loss
- high triglycerides
- certain drugs
- no reason! Men over 50 years of age may develop fatty liver without any identifiable risk factor.
So I would suggest giving diet a try and if you don't get better values next time, perhaps a more extensive investigation should be done which may include liver biopsy.
I would recommend avoiding any unnecessary supplements or drugs because almost every drug may cause liver enzyme elevations.
I don't know why you're taking esomeprazole but if it's not absolutely needed then you should try to stop it for a while.
If your blood pressure cannot be controlled without drugs (by physical activity, salt restriction and other diet measures etc) then I would suggest continuing the antihypertensive medication and stopping everything else.
Finding an offending drug is not easy because the enzymes may need more than a few weeks (at least a month) to get back to normal, but it's worth trying.
So in conclusion, given the data you've presented, I believe that fatty liver is the cause of your problem and you should try reducing your weight to see what will happen then. In the meantime, avoiding all unnecessary drugs (that is drugs that have not been prescribed by a doctor or treatment that has not been assessed by the doctor after it started in the face of the enzyme elevation.
Kind Regards!
Being overweight does not exclude the diagnosis
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I'll give you a list of possible causes of this condition but being overweight even if only mildly so, does not exclude the causative relationship.
The most common causes are diabetes mellitus, alcohol abuse and obesity.
Other potential causes may be the following conditions:
- rapid weight loss
- high triglycerides
- certain drugs
- no reason! Men over 50 years of age may develop fatty liver without any identifiable risk factor.
So I would suggest giving diet a try and if you don't get better values next time, perhaps a more extensive investigation should be done which may include liver biopsy.
I would recommend avoiding any unnecessary supplements or drugs because almost every drug may cause liver enzyme elevations.
I don't know why you're taking esomeprazole but if it's not absolutely needed then you should try to stop it for a while.
If your blood pressure cannot be controlled without drugs (by physical activity, salt restriction and other diet measures etc) then I would suggest continuing the antihypertensive medication and stopping everything else.
Finding an offending drug is not easy because the enzymes may need more than a few weeks (at least a month) to get back to normal, but it's worth trying.
So in conclusion, given the data you've presented, I believe that fatty liver is the cause of your problem and you should try reducing your weight to see what will happen then. In the meantime, avoiding all unnecessary drugs (that is drugs that have not been prescribed by a doctor or treatment that has not been assessed by the doctor after it started in the face of the enzyme elevation.
Kind Regards!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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