If a blood test reveals that you have elevated liver enzymes, your first reaction might be panic. Any abnormality on a medical test can be alarming, and your liver is one of the body’s major organs. Keep reading to learn what causes elevated liver enzymes and when you should seek a specialist’s help.
What Are Liver Enzymes?
Your liver is the largest organ inside of your body. It creates proteins for your body to use, helps to metabolize the nutrients in your food, produces bile to break down fat and absorb vitamins, and helps your body to fight infection. Your liver uses enzymes to help speed up some of these processes.
What Causes Elevated Liver Enzymes?
Infection and inflammation can cause elevated liver enzymes. For certain patients, elevated liver enzymes may be a sign of liver disease. However, liver enzymes can also be temporarily elevated without a root cause. In these cases, the elevated liver enzymes don’t indicate a serious problem.
When to Call a Doctor
If you have elevated liver enzymes, it’s important to discuss your blood test results with a doctor. A medical professional will be able to evaluate your overall health and check for other warning signs for liver disease. For most patients, elevated liver enzymes are not a sign of a chronic illness.
At the Gastroenterology Diagnostic Center, we can evaluate your blood tests and help you determine the cause of your elevated liver enzymes. Call us at 281-357-1977 to make an appointment at our convenient Tomball office.