What Do Liver Tests Mean?
Your transaminases are up a little bit, but fortunately the pro time is normal as well as your alk phos, so there is no evidence of cholestasis. Good news or bad news? Even Websters Unabridged Dictionary would not help a patient to understand the jargon. Yet some doctors speak this language to patients with liver disease. There are two solutions: get doctors to change (lots of luck) or learn the vocabulary (more likely solution). Several terms for standard liver tests are used often in conversation with patients with liver disease: transaminases, alkaline phosphatase (or alk phos), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), bilirubin (bili), albumin, and prothrombin time (pro time or PT). All are measured in the blood or serum (whats left of the blood after the cells are removed). The first three are enzymes which leak out of or are produced by injured liver cells and are, therefore, a sign of ongoing liver cell damage. The last three measure products excreted by or produced by the liver and
