Most people get AST and ALT blood tests because they have symptoms with their livers that their doctors identify as such. Common symptoms related to liver inflammation/injury/damage/failure include: yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice), dark-colored urine, upper right abdominal swelling and tenderness, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, weakness/fatigue, disorientation or confusion, and sleepiness. Your doctor will take into consideration your liver enzyme levels in addition to your symptoms, a physical exam, positive diagnostic tests (ultrasound, MRI) and possibly a liver biopsy (tissue sample) before arriving at a diagnosis.  Acute liver failure from a variety of causes can develop very quickly (within days) in an otherwise healthy person and become life-threatening, so high AST and other enzyme levels should be taken seriously. In addition to the above mentioned signs and symptoms, a liver panel (looking at all the liver enzymes in the blood) may be ordered routinely for: people who are on long-term medication, heavy drinkers or alcoholics, those with previous bouts of hepatitis, diabetics and those who are obese. Virtually all medications have the potential to damage the liver and increase blood liver enzymes (including AST), but it's usually a matter of dosage and how long you've been taking them. Like alcohol, all medications are metabolized (broken down) in the liver so there is potential to be overworked. Having said that, some drugs (or their breakdown products) are naturally more toxic to the liver than other compounds. For example, statin medications (used to lower blood cholesterol levels) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) negatively impact the liver more than most drugs.  If your AST levels are high and you are on statins and/or acetaminophen, talk to your doctor about alternative medication or remedies to deal with high cholesterol and/or chronic pain. At the very least, your dosages should be reduced. When you stop taking drugs that have an especially toxic effect on the liver, your AST levels will naturally reduce over the course of a few weeks or so. Too much iron accumulation in your body (called hemochromatosis) can lead to elevated levels of liver enzymes too — this may be an issue if you're getting iron shots from your doctor to combat iron-deficiency anemia. Acetaminophen in the setting of normal liver function, with normal recommended doses is not toxic to the liver. Always follow dosage instructions and recommendations from your physician. As noted above, there are numerous liver diseases (and other conditions) that elevate AST and other enzyme levels in the blood. However, there are a limited number of drugs that can help combat liver diseases, such as viral infections (hepatitis A, B and C), cirrhosis (fat accumulation and dysfunction from alcohol abuse) and cancer. Ask your doctor about your treatment options, which may ultimately include a liver replacement if your liver fails completely. Make sure also to get an understanding of the expected side effects from taking such powerful drugs.  Hepatitis B is typically treated with the drugs lamivudine and adefovir dipivoxil, whereas hepatitis C is treated with a combination of peginterferon and ribavirin.  Diuretic drugs are used to treat cirrhosis (to remove edema), as well as laxatives (such as lactulose) to help absorb toxins from the blood and take the workload off the liver. There a number of chemotherapy medications (oxaliplatin, capecitabine, gemcitabine) used to fight liver cancer, including very targeted therapies such as injecting the drug sorafenib (Nexavar) directly into tumors.
تشاور مع طبيبك. اسأل طبيبك عن إمكانية إيقاف بعض الأدوية. تناول أدوية لمحاربة أمراض الكبد.