I got some of my labtest result today, Im very up to continue my medication. Im just waiting my HBV DNA result. But as I looked at my AFP result, i got worried because it is higher than the normal AFP level for pregnant women . When I checked in google it says there that if you have higher result, your baby might have neural tube defect.
I have this question in my head sir,
Is pregnant woman with CHB leads to higher AFP level than than the normal?,…could hepa b affect the result of AFP of pregnant mom?
Sorry, but I am no expert or specialist and don’t even have any experiential knowledge to impart, so I will leave this answer to the others that you posted to.
Again, sorry that I am of no help. I didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you if I didn’t answer. However, I have been following along and reading your posts and I wish you the best with your pregnancy. You are very diligent in seeking knowledge to protect your baby.
AFP levels can become elevated during chronic HBV infection and most times are not associated with the development of liver cancer or other problems. We still do not understand the basis for this but some studies suggest is may be caused by the HBsAg circulating in the blood. This shows how you have be cautious about interpreting this result.
The worst thing you can do is consult google. The best thing you can do is talk to your doctor.
AFP is a protein that is produced by a fetus’ tissues. A mother’s AFP levels normally increase during pregnancy because some of the fetus’ AFP crosses the placental barrier. This will continue to increase as the fetus gets bigger.
There are multiple reasons that the AFP gets even higher than that, neural tube problems being only one particular cause (and that only occurs very rarely with increased AFP). A large proportion of mothers with high AFP give birth normally.
For people with HBV, AFP is monitored because liver cells can activate some fetus “programs” (particularly ones that are involved in growth) when they become liver cancers. So, you can pick up liver cancer by the amount of AFP that they secrete into the blood. In this instance, there is a very obvious explanation of your higher AFP levels in the blood (your pregnancy), so it is almost certainly not liver cancer.
Indeed, as @availlant points out, it’s best to consult your doctor (obstetrician) about these results and see what follow up needs to be done (if any).
You literally lit up my face sir when you said, the worst thing I can do is consult google:grin:. I guessed you are right sir, google really stressed me even from the start, but stilll cant stop asking google:grin:.
Thank you so much sir for always enlightening me with all my worries. Merry Chrictmas😊
. I guessed you are right sir, google really stressed me even from the start, but stilll cant stop asking google:grin:.