EXPLAINER: Lab results and their interpretation

Dear @john,

There doesn’t seem to be anything in your blood results indicating any active liver damage given the normal values in the liver function test. The reduced levels of neutrophils may be caused by another condition, which might be outside the expertise of this group.

Hope this helps,
Thomas

Hello @Bansah1
Thank you very much for taking the time to explain this in detail. Now is have a much better understanding.

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what does vitamin E help with? why was it recommended?

hello @ThomasTu and @Bansah1
I keep getting sharp pains and some itching on my right side under the ribs i have done a CT scan and everything is fine.
Please can you recommend any test for me to do.
The thing is, any doctor i go to see does not make me do any other labs once they hear of my hep B history. The just assume it my liver that’s acting up and so the keep prescribing pain medication for me
i have been managing this discomfort for over 5 years.

Sorry for the late response. There are other things aside from the liver that can cause sharp pains on one’s side. Bloating or having more gas can cause pain as well. Some pain medicines might have side effects so check on that as well. Do you have any ulcers? Do you have any yellowing of your eyes, skin, etc? Have you had a dewormer recently? Some of these worms can cause one to itch. It is hard to tell exactly what is going on if it’s been going on for over 5 years. I can’t think of anything else, but maybe Thomas can chime in here as well. I hope you find some solutions soon. Best, Bright.

Indeed, @Bansah1 has mentioned, there can be many causes of upper right quadrant pain and itching. It is worth looking at the other threads on this to see if anything reported by others might be relevant to your condition: Upper right quadrant pain, Titling feet and pain on the righ shoulder blade and I am feeling a sharp pin pain in my stomach. Why am I feel thay ).

Thomas

Dear @ThomasTU, am following up the conversation. Since his HepB core antibody is negative and he might have gotten it in the last three or more months, what if his HepB core antibody was positive ? Does this mean the infection is new, let’s say one or two months?

Am asking this because my HepB core antibody is positive

This were my results a month ago


And this is my current test result performed today


Your advise would be of great help. Thanks in advance

Hi @Opa,
Your results for ALT/AST are within normal range. Different labs use different standard range, but ALT normal range is between 0-42 and AST is between 0-40.The standard normal range for your results was 0-37 for AST and 0-42 for ALT. And from the results, your ALT was 68 from last month while AST was 27. But from this months result your ALT is 26 and AST is 20. This is great. Have you had your HBV Viral load/DNA checked? Your liver function test looks great. I hope this is helpful. Best, Bansah1.

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HBeAg result from May 2023 observe value is 5.292 and October 2023 is 10.017, i dont know why the reference value is going up. Whats the reason.
@ThomasTu @HealthExperts @availlant please explain.
Thanks.

Dear @Agibaby,
It depends:
A positive IgM anti-Hep B Core antibody test indicates recent exposure
A positive total anti-Hep B Core antibody indicates past exposure of any kind (i.e. could be decades ago).

Hope this helps.

Dear @12345678,

This is a qualitative test, which basically gives a yes/no answer- if it is above the reference interval, then it is positive, if below it is negative. Not much can conclusively be said about what a larger or smaller signal, and it doesn’t really affect clinical decisions/management.

Hope this helps,
Thomas

So basically the value given has no meaning at all, you can’t say the Number is close to negative or the number is very high, its just either negative or positive. Does it make sense. Sorry if i sound stupid, but it is so so important for me, it has something to do with my job career.
Thanks.

Hi @ThomasTu , thank you for answering my question.

Dear @12345678,

If a value is close to the cut-off, then there is greater chance for a false negative or false positive result. Other than this, it is difficult to interpret any more from the numbers provided by a qualitative test.

Hope this helps,
Thomas


Good evening everyone please I just got this my LFT result but I don’t understand :pleading_face: please can someone help me and explain ?:pensive:

Hi Lindah,

I agree the way these results have been given to you could be confusing. In the test column for AST, ALT and ALP, the printed normal ranges (i.e. 0-12 U/L for AST) are certainly not correct. The person who has written in your test result for these liver enzymes has also indicted the correct normal range for these tests.

Your AST, ALT and ALP are normal, as well as your bilirubin results.

Hope this helps.

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Thank you very much sir
Yea this explanation was really helpful :smiling_face_with_three_hearts::smiling_face_with_three_hearts::smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Hep B and Transmission to baby

Dear Experts, @ThomasTu, @availlant
I am on medication for the past two years and although my blood test seemy to be overall positive (ALT, AST; GGTP) but there is a clear trend downwards in quick blood value:


Is this concerning? My last scan was in April 2023 and it was normal. Could the decreasing quick blood value coupled with high bilirubin level (total) be a sign of liver damage?

Liver enzymes are within the range. Thank you!

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Dear @Natti ,

What is your latest HBV DNA result?

These numbers are really borderline elevated so they are not really cause for concern. You could come back in a week or two and these numbers may differ from these (to a small degree). This is the nature of serial blood test monitoring. There is normally wobble in the readings over time. Things like drinking alcohol or even seasonal infections can have mild impacts on liver function tests.

What you should consider again is the development of a clear trend over time. These are things you can discuss with your physician.

Best regards,

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