help for my blood tests

hi could you help me please.I have just got my blood test's back and they are as follows.The alt is 95u/l and my ggt is 129u/l. Can you help and advice me please

[gymdandee]

The GGT test helps to detect liver and bile duct injury
both ALP and GGT are elevated in disease of the bile ducts and in some liver diseases, but only ALP will be elevated in bone disease. If the GGT level is normal in a person with a high ALP, the cause is most likely bone disease. GGT can also be used to screen for chronic alcohol abuse (it will be elevated in about 75% of chronic drinkers).
A doctor usually orders GGT along with other tests to evaluate a person who has signs or symptoms that suggest liver disease. Some of the symptoms of liver injury include jaundice, nausea, vomiting, abdominal swelling, abdominal pain, pruritus (severe itching), and fatigue.
is found in the liver only. High levels of ALT in the bloodstream mean that there may be liver inflammation and/or damage. This test cannot predict liver damage or disease progression. It is simply a direct measurement of the amount of ALT in the person's bloodstream at the time of the test. The normal range of ALT levels is between 5 IU/L to 60 IU/L (International Units per Liter). ALT levels in people with HCV often rise and fall over time, so additional testing such as HCV RNA, HCV genotyping and a liver biopsy may be needed to help determine the cause and extent of liver damage.

GGT Level in the blood - test values - blood test for a man and woman
Normal Adult Female Range: 0 - 45 U/L
Normal Adult Male Range: 0 - 65 U/L
     Elevated GGT level can occur due to obesity.
Causes
GGT levels can be increased by alcohol phenytoin (Dilantin), an anti-seizure medication, and phenobarbitol, an antiseizure medication and sedative, and decreased by clofibrate, an anticholesterol drug, and birth control pills. High GGT levels are associated with liver diseases such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver tumors, and jaundice, myocardial infarction, pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis and viral infections such as Epstein-Barr, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Reye's Syndrome.



High GGT blood test predicts heart disease

Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase predicts non-fatal myocardial infarction and fatal coronary heart disease among 28 838 middle-aged men and women.
Eur Heart J. 2006 Jun 13;
Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) concentration may be involved in atherosclerosis. This study examined if serum GGT predicted coronary heart disease (CHD), especially differentiating non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) and fatal CHD event, among the general population or participants with type-2 diabetes. Conclusion: This study suggests an independent mechanism linking serum GGT to coronary heart disease. Even though the strength of association appeared to be modest among all subjects, stronger associations were observed among subjects aged <60 and among alcohol drinkers. Especially, measurement of serum GGT among type-2 diabetics may be helpful to predict the future risk of CHD.


Fatty Liver and elevated GGT
Fatty liver is one of the most frequent liver conditions diagnosed in the Western world. Chronic alcohol consumption as well as overweight and obesity associated with insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome are the major factors resulting in fatty liver. Alcoholic fatty liver as well as nonalcoholic fatty liver can progress to more advanced liver disease, including inflammation, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. From a public health perspective, the most successful approach to deal with these liver diseases is early detection and intervention instead of treating the complications of advanced liver disease. Early detection of fatty liver includes its noninvasive verification, mostly done by hepatic ultrasound, and identification of its cause, which includes the patient's history. Because it is sometimes difficult to obtain an exact history of alcohol consumption, laboratory markers of chronic alcohol misuse have been established and are frequently used. One of the best markers for chronic alcohol consumption is serum {gamma}-glutamyl transferase (GGT), which has a relatively high sensitivity and specificity. Because measurement of this enzyme is easy and inexpensive, it has generally been used for early detection of chronic alcohol misuse. However, serum GGT activity loses its specificity for alcohol in more advanced liver disease because its activity is elevated in hepatic inflammation and more advanced liver disease regardless of the cause. Although chronic alcohol consumption is the most frequent cause of elevated serum GGT activity, an increased activity of this enzyme can also be observed under medical treatment and in acute pancreatitis, myocardial infarction, hyperthyroidism, anorexia nervosa, certain muscle diseases, neurological disorders, porphyria cutanea tarda, and some malignancies. Recently, non alcoholic fatty liver disease has become an important issue in the United States and Europe because of the striking increase in overweight and obese persons in these countries. Because these persons frequently also have increased GGT activities, a differentiation between AFL and NAFL on the basis of serum GGT activity is difficult. Furthermore, overweight is sometimes the result of chronic alcohol ingestion, and FL often results from both ethanol consumption and metabolic abnormalities. Serum GGT activity is influenced not only by the amount of alcohol consumed but also by body mass index (BMI) and sex.

[maccca107]

Thanks, for the help