If my enzimes are normal in my blood work, Would that make a difference
on the liver biopsy or not? If Enzimes are normal does that mean the liver is working properly?
'Would that make a difference on the liver biopsy or not?'
No.
'If Enzimes are normal does that mean the liver is working properly?'
It is possible to have advanced liver disease (cirrhosis) and have normal ASL and AST levels.
If you are taking about the two most commonly spoken about enzymes ALT and ALT, they only measure current injury to your liver when the blood was drawn. They do NOT indicate how much the virus has damaged you liver over the years and decades of infection.
A liver biopsy is the 'gold standard' for measure the degree of inflammation and the stage of liver disease. That is why most of us with hepatitis C have a biopsy done to know how urgently we need to treat our hepatitis C.
There are other blood test that can measure when the liver is failing such as bilirubin, creatintine, PT/INR, Albumin and others but these usually only become abnormal when your liver disease is very advanced and people may be too ill to treat their hepatitis C. At that point currently the only options are death or liver transplant in the not too distant future.
You should NEVER wait until your liver is very damaged.
The best time to find out the status of your liver disease is now.
No.
'If Enzimes are normal does that mean the liver is working properly?'
It is possible to have advanced liver disease (cirrhosis) and have normal ASL and AST levels.
If you are taking about the two most commonly spoken about enzymes ALT and ALT, they only measure current injury to your liver when the blood was drawn. They do NOT indicate how much the virus has damaged you liver over the years and decades of infection.
A liver biopsy is the 'gold standard' for measure the degree of inflammation and the stage of liver disease. That is why most of us with hepatitis C have a biopsy done to know how urgently we need to treat our hepatitis C.
There are other blood test that can measure when the liver is failing such as bilirubin, creatintine, PT/INR, Albumin and others but these usually only become abnormal when your liver disease is very advanced and people may be too ill to treat their hepatitis C. At that point currently the only options are death or liver transplant in the not too distant future.
You should NEVER wait until your liver is very damaged.
The best time to find out the status of your liver disease is now.
Good luck!
Hector