Blood Drug Testing

What's the difference between hepatoxicity and liver failure? My doctor said my blood tests showed some ....?

signs of toxicity. I asked if I would need a liver transplant and he said no. Of course I'm happy about that, but he wasn't very clear about it all.

Public Comments

1. toxicity of the liver can be due to drugs/alcohol etc. liver failure means the liver is in the end stage of liver disease like cirrhosis, cancer,hepatitis,aids, etc-- what are you doing to make your liver toxic?
2. When the state Hepatoxicity, they mean any cause that would cause damage to the liver cells. This could be 1. alcohol consumption, 2.medication toxification, 3. chemical exposure, 4.bile ducts being obstructed/malformed/ infection inside which would cause the bile to back up into the liver and the bile acid and minerals may damage the cells 5. viral infection where a virus has entered the body and is using the liver cells to replicate itself (Hepatitis A,B,C,etc) 6. Fatty liver disease that can be caused by alcohol or weight gain, diabetes, insulin resistance, etc. 7. Auto immune disease where the body immune system attacks the body's own cells 8. hereditary conditions. And there are others. When the cells of the liver become damage, the immune system of the body will respond to this and cause inflammation to develop inside the liver. This can cause the liver to enlarge in size. If the cause is stopped and the inflammation is treated....the liver cells can heal. If it is not, it can cause liver failure. Liver failure starts when the cells of the liver are no longer able to do the functions to keep the body well. This starts to occur when the cells become so damaged that they start to die off and formation of scar tissue forms inside the liver. The scar tissue will then block the flow of blood through the liver and also to the liver cells...which causes more cells to die. It is a progressive disease, known as Cirrhosis of the liver. Liver failure is also an ongoing process...as more cells die the more the functions the liver does, as a whole, will continue to deteroriate....until the liver finally goes into Complete liver failure where it can no longer help the body and the liver is almost completely dead and the patient will die if they don't have a transplant. You need to be with either a gastroenterologist or hepatologist now. If they believe your liver has inflammation, they may do an ultrasound to be sure. Be sure to tell the doctor all medications you are taking: over the counter med, over the counter pain meds, vitamins, mineral, herbs, supplements, etc and even drugs that you are on that are prescribed by other doctors. Medication go through the liver first to be broken down before going to the rest of the body. The very best test to find out if someone has cirrhosis is a liver biopsy. I hope this information has been of some help to you.