The culprit causes an increase in liver enzymes

Dr. Dinh Quy Lan, Chairman of the Vietnam Hepatobiliary Association, said that there are many causes leading to an increase in liver enzymes, if prolonged elevated liver enzymes cause complications such as cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Liver enzyme elevation is one of the phrases that patients often hear from doctors, many people just hear 'liver enzymes' have shown concern about their health and think this is a dangerous disease. So what is the truth of elevated liver enzymes, and which groups of people, who are infected, will lead to an increase in liver enzymes?

For people with medical specialties, an increase in liver enzymes only reflects a number of liver cells that are damaged or necrotic. Or when one or more enzymes in liver cells are higher than normal, this is called elevated liver enzymes.

Dr. Dinh Quy Lan, Chairman of Vietnam Hepatology Science Association.

According to Dr. Dinh Quy Lan, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Hepatobiliary Science, former Director of the Center for Cancer Prevention, former Chairman of the Endoscopic Gastroenterology Department of Huu Nghi Hospital, nowadays, medicine is very developed, all Both health care facilities from the district level and even the commune level are able to detect whether a person has elevated liver enzymes. The reason, the current prevalence and elevation of liver enzymes is due to developmental techniques, we are more and more detected early. However, for physicians, it was discovered that elevated liver enzymes could not diagnose the disease because there are many causes of different liver enzymes. Both physicians and patients need to find the exact cause of elevated liver enzymes to cure the disease.

Causes of elevated liver enzymes

Because of the virus: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 5 types of hepatitis viruses that are A, B, C, D, E. Especially hepatitis B virus, there are about 2 billion people in the world today. sick. Dr. Lan said that the number of people with hepatitis b in Vietnam accounts for about 10-20% of the population. However, to date, Vietnam is investigating the number of people infected with this dangerous disease in the community. These are hepatitis diseases that increase liver enzymes.

1. Alcohol, tobacco, alcoholic abuse: Alcohol abuse leads to fatty liver disease, hepatitis, cirrhosis or liver cancer. If a person who uses alcohol has a marked increase in liver enzymes, consider this cause. In addition, if the person has additional viral hepatitis, the risk of elevated liver enzymes is higher.
2. Biliary tract diseases: This is one of the "culprits" that elevate liver enzymes. According to Dr. Lan, biliary diseases such as cholangitis, cholecystitis, gallstones, gallstones in the liver . will damage the liver and increase liver enzymes.

There are many diseases that increase liver enzymes.

1. Some diseases that cause elevation of liver enzymes : There are many diseases that increase liver enzymes. BSCKI Nguyen Thi Hoa, Head of Internal Medicine 3, Tue Tinh Hospital, Vietnam Traditional Medicine and Pharmacy Institute, said that patients with dengue fever and liver enzymes also increased to thousands. Because when patients suffer from dengue, affect many organs in the body including liver, complications of hemorrhage cause hepatitis and necrosis of acute liver cells, patients with liver enzymes increase. In addition, some diseases also cause an increase in liver enzymes such as iron overload, autoimmune hepatitis, malaria, diabetes, obesity . Depending on the severity, the liver enzymes may increase or start suddenly, Dr. Lan explain.
2. Unreasonable use of drugs : According to Dr. Dinh Quy Lan, the habit of using easy and indiscriminate drugs of Vietnamese people has the potential to affect the organs in the body, including the liver. Especially irrational use of herbal medicine will affect the health of the liver. I have witnessed a patient who treated liver with herbal medicine but after a period of taking herbal medicine, his liver disease worsened. Even improper use of western medicine causes an increase in liver enzymes, such as chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment, anti-tuberculosis drugs, or even anti-viral drugs in the treatment of liver disease, which increase liver enzymes . It is best to use any medication that requires the advice of a doctor. When suffering from a disease that requires the use of side effects to the liver, the doctor will consider the benefits to prescribe the patient.

Alcohol abuse, tobacco, alcohol is one of the causes of high liver enzymes.

1. Liver enzymes increase due to diet, eating toxic foods: If you eat foods containing toxins, harmful preservatives . the consequences are that liver enzymes increase. For example, corn, beans, moldy corn, poisonous mushrooms, moldy rice . all have aflatoxin which increases liver enzymes, hepatitis, liver cancer . According to scientists, aflatoxin is the most powerful carcinogen, absorbed If you take 2.5mg of aflatoxin in 89 days, you will have liver cancer after 1 year.

For physicians, the most important thing is to find the right cause for patients with elevated liver enzymes to treat the disease to the end of the disease. As for some drugs when taking cause to increase liver enzymes, people should not be too worried because after a period of drug use, liver enzymes will return to normal. Or as someone who has been drinking too much alcohol, getting tested immediately will result in an increase in liver enzymes. For these people, it is necessary to have a healthier lifestyle, absolutely avoiding alcohol and alcoholic substances so as not to harm the liver, Dr. Lan advised.

Normal liver enzymes have test values ​​reaching :

1. AST: 20 - 40 UI / L
2. ALT: 20 - 40 UI / L
3. GGT: 20 - 40 UI / L
4. LDH: 30 - 40 UI / L