Abnormal Lab Results

[PSuzanne]

I am a 45 yr. old female who recently had a lab work-up done on an annual physical exam.  All was normal except for the following:

Total Bilirubin - 1.7 (H)
LDL - 133 (H)
Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy - 12.4 (L)

I was given a prescription for the low Vit. D and told to start taking 1,000 IU daily after I finish my prescription.

Can you tell me what is causing the elevation of the bilirubin and other abnormal lab values?  I don't drink or smoke and eat a fairly low fat diet (rarely eat fried foods).

[mkh9]

Hi, well it could be Gilberts disease and you usually are not ill but have a high bilirubin. But your bilirubin isn't that high. The range is about 0.3-1.9 depending on the lab. Yours was high because their range for the type of test they use is a bit different. It is high normal. But other things can cause high bilirubin such as liver problems, certain anemias, gallstones, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver and bile duct. Most people in North America are low in vitamin D. I have to take 1000 IU/day to stay normal even though I go outside a walk a hour a day. My husband has to take 4000 IU/day. LDL of course is the "bad cholesterol" and can be lowered a little by diet changes but you may be asked to take a statin or other drug. It depends on your symptoms, if any and overall health. You might want to get your liver enyzmes done to check the liver,and a complete blood count to rule out anemia.But if you are asymptomatic it may be Gilberts.  

[caregiver222]

Vitamin D3 is produced by skin exposure to sunlight. It is necessary for a number of reasons, from muscular contraction to keeping the immune system operative. Calcium cannot be utilized properly without the presence of D3.

[lgboy93]

well i am 18 and have battled with high bilirubin time and time again usually its no big deal. after about 6 years of it being there i finally seen a G.I. doctor and they did a bigg work up and it turned out to be a disease that is called Gilberts disease.  and either way i mean the worst thing that would happen is you turn a little yellow if i dont eat enough. Vitamin D is always low for just about everyone since they raised it from 20 to 35 so honestly everyone should be taking some every day i know mine gets to be about 8 and i have to do 100,000 I.U.'s every week for a few weeks to bring it up and then 2000 a day but that only keeps it up for about 4 months. and I havnt had issues with LDL Cholesterol but it could just be that you are getting older and need to fix your diet. i hope things get better