Blood Drug Testing

how accuate are blood tests for liver disease?

Public Comments

1. Depending on what kind of blood test, but as a general rule of thumb they are very accurate.
2. No test is 100% accurate. Doctors usually do more blood work to increase the accuracy rate. Your body chemistry changes all the time. Depending on how the blood is taken, how they process the blood afterwards, what you ate before the test, what you did before the test was done, and also the time of day can make a big difference. When having a blood test done, if you have to have them done frequently, it is best to have them done at the same time as you had the last one done. Certain tests done can change during the day. Some people who exercise alot before having the test for the liver enzymes done, can have an elevation in these enzymes. Some tests you need to fast for, like cholesterol...also known as lipids. There is alot more than meets the eye. You could say that this testing gives the doctor a good idea of what may be going on inside your body...but not a definite answer. That is why they will follow it up with other testing to look at the liver itself or even take a biopsy of it. The very best test to be done for the liver is the liver biopsy where they can look directly at the cells of the liver and not just pictures of it or results of blood chemistry. However, since it is an invasive test and cost a lot to have done...they usually do not resort to that unless it is absolutely necessary. The liver enzymes can signify if there is damage to the liver cells. The liver function tests shows the doctor how well your liver cells are functioning to do the things that need to be done to keep the body functioning well. When you have blood tests over a certain time period...the more the doctor can make a decision on what the diagnoses will be and how it will be treated. This takes time and many patients have a hard time waiting for these results. Here are the names of the blood tests most frequently taken for liver patients. You can look these up on the link I'm going to provide you and they will tell you more about each of them and why they are done. Or you can type in your search engine: "liver function tests" or "liver enzymes" and some site will explain some of these to you. It isn't hard to read or understand and it will benefit you when you need to talk with your doctors about the tests> ALT, AST, Alkaline Phosphatase, INR, Bilirubin, Albumin (these all involve the liver) Creatinine, Bun (these involve the kidneys) http://www.labtestsonline.org I hope this has been of help to you.