alcoholis

what caused elevated cpk enzymes and how does it relate to alcoholics

[kenkeith]

Long-term alcohol use causes damage to the heart muscles called alcoholic cardiomyopathy, with symptoms ranging from chronic shortness of breath to heart failure.  Heart muscle damage can raise the level of an enzyme named creatine phosphokinase (CPK) in the blood.

However, other factors such as age, sex, and exercise also affect CPK levels. In fact, elevated CPK is common in adults who exercise regularly. Normal levels of serum CPK vary from 0 to approximately 188 micrograms per liter. Different laboratories may report slightly different upper limits as within the normal range because of differences in test procedures and population differences.

Thanks for the question, and if you have any followup questions you are welcome to respond.  Take care.