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question
by Trig, Mar 16, 2001 12:00AM
i have been a big drinker for more than twenty years, and have had fatty liver for the last fifteen. i have lately started to get a swollen left leg and have been sweating profusely in hot weather. i had to have a blood test recently and was told i had 5 times the normal level of ggt. not sure what ggt is. does this mean that i am an alcoholic?
As to whether a blood test might indicate that you are an alcholic, I don't know. Do you think that you are? That's the main point here. My liver function tests were abnormal for years before I got really concerned enough to cut out alcohol. But by that time I was in serious trouble physically. J.B.
Gamma glutamyl transpeptidase or GGT is an enzyme produced in the bile ducts. Measurement of the GGT is an extremely sensitive test and may be elevated in many types of liver disease. Many drugs, including alcohol, cause an elevation of the GGT, and its activity may be increased in heavy drinkers even in the absence of liver damage or inflammation. An important feature of GGT is that it can detect the presence of alcohol, even after a small amount of alcohol is ingested. Thus, the GGT test is important in the evaluation and management of alcoholism.
Because GGT is not increased in bone disease or bone growth, it can help differentiate liver disease from skeletal disease when the ALP is elevated. Both the ALP and the GGT are increased in a number of diseases that affect bile drainage, such as gallstones, tumors blocking the common bile duct, alcoholic liver disease, or drug induced hepatitis that blocks the flow of bile in smaller channels within the liver. However, the ALP is found in other organs and tissues, such as the bone, the placenta, and the intestinal tract. Therefore, the GGT is used as supplementary test to verify that an elevated ALP is due to disease or injury to the liver or biliary tract, rather than disease affecting other organs.
I do not know about the relevance of the swollen leg and sweating and GGT.I think they should look into that and if you have not already STOP drinking.
Part of the reason why I don't worry about whether I cark it or not is that I think there are just too many people. We are buggering up the environment at a hell of a rate- what will it be like for your kids and grandkids with heaps of pollution, loss of land through sea rises, a vast divide between our fellows in Africa or China in terms of wealth and education - these things seem to me disastrous and something I do not want to be part of. Does this seem intelligible or not? I am sorry if they are not, but they are sincerely held views.
cheers
trig
Have you thought about attending some AA meetings? J.B.
cheers
trig
why do they do this? take care all
Dee
Peace and good fortune to all.