Liver / Gastro question!

[BlessedNYC]

Hi Docs,
Great work you do here. I have a question regarding someone i know - here are his lab work results on the liver. I wanted to ask if this is any indication of something serious? the doctor gave him liver cleansers - milk thistle and giseng something - instead of a liver medication.
The cleasers are working well and he is improving. These are the tests after one week of cleansing the system.

Total Protein - 79 g/l
Albumin - 39
Globulin - 40
A/G Ratio - 1.0
Bilrubin Total - 72 pmol/l
Bilrubin Direct - 54.0
Bilrubin Indirect - 18.0
Aspartare Aminotransferase - 692 lu/l
Alanine Aminotransferase - 1176
Alkaline Phosphatase - 259
Gamma - Gluamyl Transferase - 303
Creatine Kinase - 57
Prothrombin Time - 14 seconds
Hepatitis B - Negative


The doctor had suspected hepatis B and that came up negative.
whats your take with these results. He doesnot have a stomach problem or pain. He has jaundice which is clearing after he started taking the cleansers. The color in his feases is coming back to normal. He has regained his appetite since he started cleansing the leaver
- there tests were taken before the improvements.


Additionally, he took a sonogram which showed a normal stomach but they could not rule out hepatitis. The spleen was slighly enlarged.

whats your take?

[BlessedNYC]

please read through my question and advise.  thanks

[BlessedNYC]

Thanks surgeon.  This doctor is a hepatologist and using the test results above made some determinations not to give him any conventional medication.  You mention viral diseases like hepatits and mono.  the doctor ruled out mono.  do you have any idea what else it could be? I want him to be able to check for everything.  HIV was ruled out as well as herpes etc.
Please advise.  I like your jokes but i want some serious information here because i worry about him and want another opinion.  I gave you the test results, whats your take?

[lizziecee]

Thank you for telling it how it is! I have had Crohn's for some 35 years and well meaning friends are always suggesting I try snake oil or other rather ridiculous preoccupations. I have total and utter trust in my gastro, who used to work in a leper colony in Africa, and with Aids patients in London, UK. He reads the research, understands it and tries to explain it to me when prescribing allopathic drugs such as  methotrexate, prednisolone and shortly, Thalidomide, as he is one of the few gastros in the UK licensed by the German mnfr of that drug. I just don't get those folks who go to specialist doctors then refuse to take their advice and appropriate medications, all scientificlly tested by their peers.
Thank you for your common sense.
Liz.

[astros18]

To each his own. I think a surgeon has no reason to believe in natural medicine. After all he takes out body parts for a living. I had all documented serious medical problems for well over 2 years. Prescription medications made it worse and taking out my gallbladder was the worst decision I ever made. The reason surgeon cannot tell you what has made your friend better is exactly what he stated- he has absolutely no idea. Your liver is your detoxification organ. Let's hope it can be cleansed thru good nutrition or other means. I recommend you read Dr. Jordan Rubin's book, Patient, Heal Thyself. He is also the author of The Makers Diet. He was at deaths door with Crohn's disease and healed himself. I quote," Modern medicine is based on a science that sees the world in closed and mechanistic terms, leading to a limited belief system. This approach says that if something is wrong, all that's needed is to either take out the part causing the problem or dispense a drug. But this approach often screws up the dynamics of the body and ends up leading to more problems." A snake charmer is no more natural medicine than is an appendectomy. There are definitely charlatans out there in both the natural and allopathic world, but just because something cannot be explained in scientific terms does not mean it has no benefits.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Those liver tests are markedly elevated, with an ALT of above 1000 and total bilirubin above 50.

Possible causes can include acute hepatotoxicity due to a medication, ischemic hepatitis (shock liver), acute viral hepatitis, or alcoholic hepatitis.

There is no role for liver cleansers at this time - as there is very little data supporting its use.  

In addition to the ultrasound, you may want to consider a liver biopsy if the diagnosis is non-revealing.  A complete hepatitis panel should be done in addition to hepatitis B.

Discussion of these options should be done with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
http://www.straightfromthedoc.com

[BlessedNYC]

I still wonder how he got better from what was a serious illness as you can see the test results.  He is okay now as of today but told me he started feeling better when he started taking the herbs. He said before then he was very sick.
If its not the cleansers - what do you think happened medically?  I want to know so that if it returns god forbid - we can treat it right.