Can liver problems affect your legs?
As the liver becomes more severely damaged, more obvious and serious symptoms can develop, such as: yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice) swelling in the legs, ankles and feet caused by a build-up of fluid (oedema)
Can elevated liver enzymes cause leg swelling?
A patient whose liver fails will accumulate fluid in the abdomen and in the legs. The leg swelling often starts in the feet and more of the legs will become affected when the function of the liver worsens and fluid accumulation increases.
What causes the AST to be elevated?
High levels of AST in the blood may indicate hepatitis, cirrhosis, mononucleosis, or other liver diseases. High AST levels can also indicate heart problems or pancreatitis. If your results are not in the normal range, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a medical condition needing treatment.
What muscle diseases cause elevated liver enzymes?
Elevated transaminases have been observed in various myopathies, hyperthyroidism, and celiac disease and even used as a marker for myocardial infarction. In fact, due to the larger proportion of skeletal muscle, adult males have four times more ALT and 26 times more AST on average in their muscle than in their liver.
What stage of liver disease is swollen legs?
When liver damage progresses to an advanced stage, fluid collects in the legs, called edema, and in the abdomen, called ascites. Ascites can lead to bacterial peritonitis, a serious infection.
What are the 4 warning signs of liver damage?
If signs and symptoms of liver disease do occur, the may include:
- Skin and eyes that appear yellowish (jaundice)
- Abdominal pain and swelling.
- Swelling in the legs and ankles.
- Itchy skin.
- Dark urine color.
- Pale stool color.
- Chronic fatigue.
- Nausea or vomiting.
Is AST found in muscle?
AST is in the liver, heart, muscles, kidneys, brain, pancreas, spleen and lungs. ALT is also known as SGPT (serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase), and AST is also called SGOT (serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase).
Why are my ALT and AST levels high?
Common causes of elevated ALT and AST are viral liver infections, alcohol abuse, cirrhosis (from any chronic causes), and more. Normal levels of ALT (SGPT) ranges from about 7-56 units/liter of serum (the liquid part of the blood), Normal levels of AST (SGOT) is about 5-40 units/liter of serum.
What causes elevated liver enzymes in asymptomatic patients?
Common causes of mild elevation of ALT and AST in an asymptomatic person. Many prescription drugs also induce elevated ALT. Cholesterol lowering agents (such as HMGCo-A reductase), anti tuberculosis drugs, non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including aspirin are all known to cause mild elevated liver enzyme.
What causes elevated ALT and AST levels in liver disease?
When there is acute necrosis of the liver, caused by ischaemia, viral hepatitis, chemical or toxin, the ALT and AST levels can go up to hundreds or thousands IU/L. This is the result of leakage of these enzymes into the systemic circulation.
What does it mean when your AST is high?
High AST can be caused by liver diseases, myocardial infarction (heart attack), acute pancreatitis, acute hemolytic anemia, trauma (especially severe burns), acute kidney failure, diseases of the muscular and skeletal systems, and other causes. Sometimes the cause of the high AST result is obvious, e.g. if acute physical trauma is present.
What does the AST level tell you about your liver?
The exact AST level does not tell you how much liver damage there is, or whether the liver is getting better or worse, and small changes should be expected. However, for patients receiving treatment for hepatitis C, it is helpful to see if the AST level goes down. The AST level is not as helpful as the ALT level for checking the liver.