I recently got some blood work done, and my doctor told me that i had elevated liver function. He said that my liver was working as though i was a heavy drinking alcoholic, even though i have never even touched drop of alcohol in my life. What could be the cause of this? I tried looking it up on the internet, but could not find a straight answer. Thanks for the help!

The doctor does different blood tests to check the liver:
1) The liver enzymes known as the ALT, AST, GGT,
and Alkaline Phosphatase...
these tests give the doctor an idea of the liver cells being
damaged.
2) The liver functions tests known as the Bilirubin, INR,
Pt, Ptt, and Albumin...
these tests give the doctor an idea of how well the liver
cells are able to do the many functions of the liver.
3) The liver viral tests known to check for Hepatitis A,B,C,etc.
4) The liver cancer test known as the Alpha Feto Protein.

If you want to understand any of these tests, here is a link
to click on:
http://www.labtestsonline.org

It depends on which tests show an out of normal range,
what the doctor is seeing.

There are many causes of liver cell damage:
alcohol drinking (not you), medication toxifications,
chemical exposure, mushroom poisoning,
metabolic disorders (like the liver unable to
make certain enzymes), hereditary conditions
(example: the body holding onto too much iron or
copper), viral infections (like Hep A,B,C,etc),
parasite infections (example: from raw fish,
shellfish that was in unclean waters; liver flukes),
cardiac/vascular problems, fatty liver disease
(has many causes; some of which are diabetes,
over weight, metabolic), auto immune diseases
(like biliary cirrhosis or sclerosing cholangitis
Hepatic auto immune), cancer/cyst/tumors/growths,
biliary duct obstruction/malformation/infections,
and others: even includes having another disease

URL: http://www.healthhelper.net/Other-Diseases/201201/27605.htm

Keywords: Function,Elevated,Liver