How healthy is my liver? Does she have traces of too much alcohol or is she even fat? A simple blood test shows how the liver is doing and whether there is a possibility of liver inflammation. Two values are particularly important.
When the doctor says after the blood test: your liver values are elevated, everyone is a bit shocked at first. But it depends on what the values are and how big the increase is. Because there are different liver values, strictly speaking these are certain enzymes whose concentration in the blood increases in liver diseases.
“Many general practitioners then speak primarily of GammaGT and alcohol is quickly inferred,” reports Markus Cornberg, Medical Director of the German Liver Foundation and Senior Physician at the MHH Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology. GGT, as it is abbreviated, is particularly sensitive to liver stress. Often, however, alcohol is not to blame for the increase, “but rather a bile duct disease or a viral infection, such as a bad cold,” the expert clarifies.
On the other hand, these two liver values are particularly important:
The values of GOT and GPT should be under 35 for women and under 50 for men.
“If these values are greatly increased, something very serious and acute can be behind it, such as acute hepatitis,” warns the professor. Then an expert, i.e. a gastroenterologist or hepatologist, should definitely be consulted.
But even moderately elevated liver values should not be dismissed with a “just drink less alcohol for a while”. You should always take them seriously, warns Markus Cornberg. In any case, a follow-up check is necessary to determine whether the liver values have fallen again.
If not, hepatitis can always be the cause, and there are also liver diseases, says the expert, in which the values fluctuate. That means the liver values are sometimes almost normal, then they rise again, then they fall again.
The most common cause of elevated liver values, however, is fatty liver, with medical professionals between
differentiate. At least a quarter of the population in Germany are affected by fatty liver.
The secondary diseases that arise on the basis of a fatty liver are expressed by increased liver values, which are:
Depending on the trigger, a distinction is made between “non-alcoholic fatty liver inflammation” (NASH) and “alcoholic fatty liver inflammation” (ASH) caused by alcohol consumption. Experts expect two million people to be affected here.
In addition to fatty liver and fatty liver hepatitis, viral hepatides such as hepatitis B and C are the most important reasons for an increase in liver values. Up to 800,000 patients live with chronic viral hepatitis in Germany.
Ultimately, the liver values are also increased in cirrhosis and liver cancer, but also in many other liver diseases such as
Incidentally, the number of unreported cases is high for most liver diseases. Because the liver is not sensitive to pain, it suffers silently, so to speak. So there are often no symptoms until the late stage – even with acute hepatitis, classic jaundice occurs in only about 20 percent. Many liver diseases are chronic and are often only discovered at a late stage, for example through a blood test or an ultrasound examination of the upper abdomen.
Above all, fatty liver diseases with their consequences fatty liver hepatitis, liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer are increasing. So it makes sense to have the blood test done. However, it is not (yet) part of the regular check-up 35, although it would be so important. The costs are usually not covered by health insurance companies, but usually amount to a few euros.
The last two groups could have contracted viral hepatitis.
The treatment of liver diseases has greatly improved. Detected early, most patients can be treated well or even cured. One example is viral hepatitis C, which can now be cured in more than 95 percent with a two to three-month therapy with tablets with few side effects.
Having the liver values checked and, if they are slightly elevated, having the result checked after a few weeks is very important and can be life-saving. Nevertheless, many shy away from having the small blood test carried out.
On the one hand, this is certainly due to the fact that elevated liver values are still primarily wrongly associated with too much alcohol (“hepatic alcohol consumption”). The fact is, however, that lack of exercise and poor nutrition are often the cause. And these two risk factors now affect at least every second person.
Ultimately, however, the liver still has a reputation for being a “dirty organ” despite being a vital organ, much like the heart. Liver disease is nevertheless perceived differently than, for example, heart disease. “A heart attack is socially more accepted than cirrhosis of the liver,” compares Markus Cornberg.
The heart attack is probably also caused by a lack of exercise, poor nutrition, alcohol and smoking – just like cirrhosis of the liver – but is considered a managerial disease. Fatty liver, liver cirrhosis and other liver diseases, on the other hand, are rather taboo and therefore many do not even want to know whether their liver is in order. They fail to detect liver diseases early and thus massively increase the chances of recovery.
