Got a routine blood test back and my AST(SGOT) value was 55 U/L where as the normal is 15-37. Got an appointment tomorrow but am a bit worried. Anyone have any ideas or dealt with this before. I did a very hard work out in the heat the night before and am hoping maybe this is the cause but am not sure...I realize this is kind of an odd and rare issue on here but thought I would try.
Not as rare as you'd think. I got a blood test done while training for a marathon and putting in a lot of miles and the test showed elevated liver enzymes. My doctor essentially said don't worry, but we'll continue to monitor it. The enzymes go up and down with the intensity of my training. Antidotal evidence (from me and others) seem to indicate that there may be a correllation and that, absent of other warning signs or symptoms, it's not something to be overly worried about.
Liver enzyme levels will be high if you are a serious runner in serious training.
I've seen them much higher than that. Nothing too worry about I bet.
My doctor told me that I had elevated liver function. I was later diagnosed with mono (sickness that makes you really tired to an extreme all of the time) and told that it was the cause of the elevated liver function.
Had high levels as well, I do pretty intense weight room and short interval work. Second test revealed lower levels. I also had a hepititis screen. It all came back negative. Dont panic until you have had a couple follow up blood work done.
Liver questions wrote:
Got a routine blood test back and my AST(SGOT) value was 55 U/L where as the normal is 15-37. Got an appointment tomorrow but am a bit worried. Anyone have any ideas or dealt with this before. I did a very hard work out in the heat the night before and am hoping maybe this is the cause but am not sure...I realize this is kind of an odd and rare issue on here but thought I would try.
AST is a chemical that is also found in muscle cells, so it is not only a measure of liver damage/injury, but of muscle injury as well. It is therefore not uncommon for AST to be high in people who train a lot. This is the most likely explanation, especially if the other measures (bilirubin, ALT were normal).
Thanks for all the replies. ALT, bilirubin, and all the rest were normal so hopefully things are fine...we'll see. Thanks again.
don't remember which one it was, but mine was also elevated when i had a routine blood test before going on accutane. i was training pretty hard at the time (50mpw, but intense 800 training). had hepatitis, etc screen, everything was fine except when i had an ultrasound. i had "gall bladder sludge". apparently this can result from a high turnover of fat and is usually only found i overweight people who lose a lot of weight...the doc said i was fine though and it was probably due to the intense exercise.
Just to add to the advice you have received.Quite a while back I had these high liver enzyme readings for some twenty years,showed up each year in my company medical checkup.Can result from alcoholism,pregnancy or high levels of distance running.
In the case of the latter reason the levels will usually drop to "normal" levels if you desist from running/exercise for about a fortnight.Some medicos are not aware of the effect of running on these enzyme levels.
If your SGPT# is in the same neighborhood as your SGOT#, worry. Otherwise, it is as others have said - hard training raises the SGOT #.
As many others have said, this is normal for distance runners. I had the same result come back and did one further test to confirm nothing was really wrong...it was just marathon training.
Elevated liver enzymes (also found in muscle, as others have said, although ALT is more liver specific) can be up in exercise, so if your doctor is getting them it would save a lot of hassle if s/he mentioned to not do harder workouts prior to the blood draw for a few days, or not run that morning.
I usually never check LFT's on patients unless they come with a complaint that I can relate to the liver, or if they have high risk behaviors that make me want to screen for hepatitis. Otherwise far too much time/money/worry is spent on chasing down these tests, in situations where there is a low likelihood of disease. Certainly worth looking if you drink more than normal, have a family history of liver trouble, or are having pain, nausea, fatigue, or skin color changes, but if none of these were present you basically spent a few hundred bucks getting an unneccesary test done, and then more money and time on the follow-up this will generate. Part of why we spend 18% of our GDP on healthcare...
This is a great topic. I have been battling high liver tests for the past 4 years. I run on average about 50 miles per week and recently I had my labs tested agian. I took 9 days off from running and lifting weights before the tests. I walked, stretched and did light exercise during this time. My labs decreased after this time off - my ALT was within normal range but my AST was still elevated(73). It sounds like some of you have also experienced these same results. My creatine kinase was very high too(424) but I think that can raise with muscle damage not related to the liver, is that correct? I was just concerned that AST was still high after 9 days off. I am a bit underweight and have lost some weight over the past year so that may contribute some too. I am very frustrated and am now beginning to think that I have nothing to worry about especially if my ALT was normal which is the test that focuses more on the liver. The ultrasound came back normal and they wanted to do a biopsy but I am totally convinced that the high AST is because of my running ways. It is good to read your feedback so offer thoughts if you have any. Thanks!
If you are really that worried about an AST in the 50's, get it checked somewhere else. The reason this will help is the other place may call up to 60 in the normal range. The point is, the range of normal for a given institution is completely arbitrary. You are worrying about nothing. My question is why the hell did you have this tested in the first place?
you lose about half of your liver when you do a marathon... it grows back. according to our path professor (pathguy.com)
just "find" marathon
Do not assume anything! I had elevated liver enzymes and the doctor told me it was probably nothing. I actually ended up having an autoimmune disease called dermatomyositis where my white blood cells were eating my muscles and I was disabled within a year and a half. I am better now, but had to go through hell first. Keep getting it checked out until you rule everything out. This could be an early warning of something more serious.
In hepatitis ALT and AST go up first, then bilirubin and the other liver enzymes. If you have high levels of AST, you might as well get a hepatitis test.
I can no longer donate blood to the Red Cross because of a similar situation. There was a blood drive going on so after a hard run, and showering, I dropped by and donated. A couple of months later I get a letter from the Red Cross saying my blood tested positive for some enzyme and they were no longer able to accept my donations, FOR LIFE. I called the number on the letter and he explained it didn't necessarily mean anything was wrong with me it was just a regulation they had to abide by. I followed up with my doc and further tests were normal. My doc said the hard run done me in.
I not feel like an ass when I am walking past a red cross blood drive and have to turn down their invitation to donate blood.
Haji,
You might want to look into this again. I had the same problem. And I couldn't donate for about 15 years. They finally changed the rules about 4 or 5 years ago, though. I can now donate again. For someone like me who is O-, this was very good news.