Newbe questions

[idgett]

Hello, I am new to the forum; my husband was diagnosed with Hep C several years ago. He had some lab work done last week and his AFP is 8 (normal 0-6) and his GGT was 220 (normal 0-65)
Are these levels common for Hep C?

[moggyjo]

I am getting VERY worried now about my friend whos got Hep C his GGTP is 553 and his ALT 304 his Doctor just told him to cut down drinking!!! I told him to cut it out altogether but hes now on about going drinking on Saturday.
He has has 2 biopsies in the past and said that he has never been told the results!

[idgett]

Thank you very much. Unfortunately this has been an ongoing battle for about 8 years now. He was diagnoses in '01 with type 1a. At the time his load was 300 thousand, now it is 2.7 million. He has remained asymptomatic thru the entire thing. With the cure rate being so low at the time of diagnosis he took and stand back and watch approach. I am getting worried that he is waiting to long. I see quite a few red splotches on his skin that are the size from a dime to a silver dollar and do not go away.
ALT last time was 187 now is 59 AST 51 now 39 other than that his blood work is pretty much in line. No elevated or anything.

[Bill1954]

Hi Idgett,

From labtestsonline:

http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ggt/test.html

“Elevated GGT levels indicate that something is going on with your liver but not specifically what. In general, the higher the level the greater the “insult” to your liver. Elevated levels may be due to liver disease, but they may also be due to congestive heart failure, alcohol consumption, and use of many prescription and non-prescription drugs including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), lipid-lowering drugs, antibiotics, histamine blockers (used to treat excess stomach acid production), antifungal agents, seizure control medications, antidepressants, and hormones such as testosterone. Oral contraceptives (birth control pills) and clofibrate can decrease GGT levels.”

A doctor often orders GGT if excessive drinking is suspected.

While the AFP is mildly elevated, it’s primary purpose in clinical practice is as a tumor marker; a non-maternal AFP of 8 is consistant with HCV infection, and should not be of immediate concern. If it was 500, primary liver cancer would be a definite concern.

It would be difficult for anyone to determine the overall health of a patient based on the values you provided. What has his doctor suggested regarding his HCV? Was treatment recommended at this time?

Good luck,

Bill

[nygirl7]

No they are very high and show that he unfortunately has a lot of liver cell death going on right now.  Every time a liver cell dies it releases an "enzyme" so the higher the level of enzymes.....the more cell death going on.  The only time this is not really true is supposedly when the liver is very cirhhotic there is just no good tissue left to kill.....

It appears that it would be a good time to get him biopsied to find out exactly what grade and stage of damage he has progressed to.

While having hep isn't the greatest thing in the world take heart...there IS a cure and while treatment isn't "fun" for almost all of us (although we'd rather be home resting)...most people can work and function and live normal productive lives while they kill the virus off.

Learn all you can and find him a good doctor PRONTO - one who specializes in hepC.  That will be a huge benefit to you both because some doctors...well they are reading out of old textbooks and know nothing of all the latest advances that have been made (believe it or not it's true quite often!)

Good luck.  Make an appt. right away for that biopsy (sounds horrible but it doesn't hurt one little bit...just a needle pinch and that's it - we don't have nerves inside our livers to feel any pain yay!)