Sunday, November 25, 2007

Anyone have a liver I could borrow??

One issue with my bloodwork was my chronically high Liver Function Test (LFT) results. There are two enzymes, AST and ALT, that will show the presence of liver disease. When a liver cell is damaged, it will leak ALT into the bloodstream. Testing for this enzyme is a simple indicator that there is liver damage. The same is true for AST, though AST can be found for other reasons. Sometimes, the ratio of ALT and AST will give some indication about the cause of the disease. In my case, they told me to stop drinking for a while and to re-test. After two months of clean living, I was given another LFT. The results were not much better. I was told that I most likely was suffering from Fatty Liver Disease, probably brought on from my diet and lack of exercise. Change both, take some supplements, and get retested in a few months, I was told. That was in April.

My new diet cut out nearly all dairy. In it's place I ate plenty of soy milk and soy yogurt. I bumped up my intake of whole grains, which was already high. I began taking some supplements. These included Omega 3,6,9, Lecithin, Vitamin E, and Milk Thistle. I put flax seed oil in everything I could. I was re-tested in September and my AST and ALT levels came down very dramatically. The AST was right in the middle of the normal range, but my ALT was still very slightly elevated. A retest two weeks ago shows that my ALT is now perfectly normal, and the donation is a go! I am very excited by the development (both for the chance to donate, as well as my improved health). As soon as they find a suitable recipient, we are good to go. HOT DOG! (soy, of course)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Anthony-

Mark was just telling me about this last night. This is such an amazing gift- you are doing.
I actually am still up at 3:45- writing an eulogy for my cousin's funeral. His sister donated her kidney to him. I am going to tell her to view this blog.
This didn't even shock me though- you are such a giving guy.
I do miss you- and hope you are well.
Talk soon-
Tricia :)