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Fatty liver disease is becoming more common across the world. Many people do not know they have fatty liver disease, since it can progress to worsen the liver. The good news is that if there is a blood test to detect it early, then it can be managed and even reversed. In this blog we are going to review 5 important blood tests for fatty liver, and how they help you understand how liver health is managed.
Fatty liver disease is defined as the accumulation of fat in the liver cells. Fat in the liver can occur for many different reasons. These include obesity, diabetes, excess alcohol intake, or medications. Fatty liver disease is often silent (that is, it has limited or no symptoms) and it can be challenging to make timely contact.
While tests like ultrasound and CT (computed tomography) may be able to show that there is fat in the liver, there are both liver functioning tests and inflammatory tests that can all provide clues about how the liver is working and if there is any inflammation or damage. Importantly for your liver health, these blood tests are simple, available, and can be used to track progress with liver health over time.
A liver function test for fatty liver is a series of blood tests that help assess the health of your liver. The tests look at levels of certain liver enzymes and proteins such as:
Elevated levels can indicate liver inflammation or damage commonly associated with fatty liver disease.
The liver enzymes ALT and AST are found in liver cells. When liver cells are inflamed or injured, ALT and AST leak into the bloodstream, raising their levels in the blood. The ALT and AST test for fatty liver disease is known to be one of the most frequently ordered tests because the ALT and AST tells us something about liver cell injury. Generally, ALT is more liver-specific than AST and an elevated ALT vs AST may suggest fat-related disease.
The enzyme GGT can be a useful blood marker for fatty liver. In fatty liver disease, GGT levels also rise, which may be more pronounced if you are using alcohol. If you have accidental fatty liver disease (NAFLD) it can help your doctor discriminate between fatty liver disease caused by alcohol, from that of the NAFLD. Elevated GGT levels could mean your liver is under attack.
While CBC (Complete Blood Count) is not liver specific, it is commonly included in tests for diagnosing fatty liver disease. It is useful to assess your general health and also check for complications that may have complications such as infections or anemia that can occur with liver disease.
Fatty liver can sometimes lead to liver fibrosis (scarring). To see how advanced the disease is, a physician could order specialty blood work for fatty liver disease that has fibrosis markers:
All of these things can indirectly measure liver stiffness and function and can indicate fibrosis or cirrhosis without the need for a biopsy.
Blood work is only the first step. Your healthcare provider will read your blood test results with the history of your physical examinations as well as your medical history, and potentially imaging studies to give you context of the health of your liver.
If blood test indicators, such as ALT and AST are elevated, that doesn’t always indicate severe liver damage, but it may dictate closer monitoring or changes in lifestyle. The importance of receiving the diagnoses in the early stages of transferable blood tests for fatty liver means that you could potentially change the course of your liver health with food, exercise and potentially medication.
Knowing how to test for fatty liver with blood tests is a vital primary step in protecting your liver and your health. Blood tests will provide you with a liver function test, as well as specific method indicators of liver condition through ALT and AST levels. Fatty liver disease can often be managed if any lifestyle changes or treatments start sooner, rather than later.
If you think you may have a risk for fatty liver, contact your healthcare provider and seek out the appropriate tests to diagnose fatty liver disease.
Stay engaged and monitor your liver, and take care of it, it is one of the hardest working organs we have!
A: Typically, the same blood tests are done which include liver function tests (ALT, AST, ALP, Bilirubin), they may do GGT and sometimes they check for fibrosis markers including platelet count and albumin
A: Blood tests give important hints. However, we usually add imaging tests or clinical and completion of medical history to complete the diagnosis.
A: The doctor will usually do blood tests every 6 to 12 months to assess liver health and progression of disease.
A: High ALT or AST usually means inflammation of the liver or damage and is not specific or associated with fatty liver, it could be due to other liver conditions.
A: Blood tests are not risky or painful, they simply involve blood being drawn and are usually painless and very safe.
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