hi everyone!
i just received blood test results from the doctor that was taken from my 11 yr old son. everything is normal except AST. it is slightly high. normal is between 10-40 and his test showed 42.
for slightly high levels of AST may be caused by: heart attack or failure, hemolytic anemia, cancer and pacreatitis.
medically, do we need to do anything about it?
thanks,
C.
hi! thank you sooooo much for advices! theyre really helpful. i finally got a message from the dr and here what she said:
These results are borderline elevated--not indicating any major pathology-possible reasons for higher levels include taking a tylenol medication -but also may indicate early fatty liver if pt is overweight. Jared should follow lo fat diet and we will continue to monitor at his regular checks. Jared should keep active there is no restriction here. Lets plan on 6 month follow up of lipid profile and repeat ast. Thank you, B.Drake M.D.
my son is not totally overweight, he is just heavier than average so now i am putting him on a "diet" starting today! thanks again!
C. G
It can be elevated in children actively growing. It is nothing to worry about. It becomes elevated when their bones are growing. Unless he has pain in his bones or right upper abdomen (under his ribs) then no worries! Hope it helps.
Dani
AST and ALT are both liver enzymes, a slight elevation like that in an otherwise healthy and growing 11 year old boy is nothing to worry about. The causes you list are when you're seeing levels in the greater than 200 range. If it were my child I would just have it rechecked in 3-6 months. Hope that helps!
What did his doctor say?
Your son's result was elevated ever so slightly. Having worked in a lab I can tell you that had they run the same sample over again, they might have gotten a lower number, putting you at high normal. I would not worry about this unless he shows symptoms. As for not having insurance, I am sure your son would be able to qualify for a state insurance program; all children in California can receive insurance this way. Contact your nearest MediCal office.
It is a liver enzyme. When liver enzymes are high, it is to be viewed as a red flag...just that something somewhere is out of balance. It could be a nutrient deficiency, a dormant infection or an environmental or other toxin of some sort. You can let it be and 'watch it' as the doctors would say, or you can look deeper into it. With the current toxic world we live in, these things are more and more common. At Creative Nutrition & Wellness, we help figure out these types of 'problems' or 'concerns' and 'treat' them via vitamins, herbs and food.
There are some non-invasive tests that can help figure this out. Usually there are other signs and symptoms that we would inquire about that paint a picture for us to determine the root of the problem.
Namaste,
J. Eltman, MPH, RD
Preventive & Therapeutic Holistic Health
www.CreativeNutrition.com
1.877.5.EATWELL
Author: The NO DIET Diet: Healthy Meals in 5 Minutes
Dear C.,
What did the doctor say? I'm assuming SOMEONE spoke to you - and if it was a nurse or receptionist in the office, an appointment should have been made so that you could speak to the doctor! I would say ask the doctor what needs to be done. Either they need to re-test to make sure it's not a false positive, or run tests to find out what the under-lying condition is that is causing the elevation . . . or both!
If you haven't been able to speak to the doctor about this, and you are not scheduled to do so - CALL the office and make an appointment. OR if the office didn't make an appointment, didn't think it was important to talk to you about an abnormal test - get your physician list out, and call another office to make an appointment - then go into your current office to tell them they need to send his records to the new doctor. (I say go in, because you'll probably have to sign a release to have them sent.)
Good luck! I don't mean to imply there is anything to sorry about - but you need to find THAT out FOR SURE! - As I mentioned above, it could just be a false positive. These things happen, too!
B.
An AST of 42 is nothing to get alarmed about. As others have mentioned, "what did the doctor say????" That is why it is best to discuss these types of results with someone at the office, rather than just googling the test, finding all sorts of random information and getting unnecessarily worried.
We see AST's and ALT's that are this high all the time. It means nothing and is essentially normal. When one has hepatitis or liver disease, you will see ALT's and AST's in the hundreds or even thousands -- NOT elevated by a mere 2 points.
If you measured all of our ALT's and AST's (assuming we are all healthy), a certain percentage of us will have a similar result as your son, and we will have nothing wrong with us. Just like if you check labs on any person, even in a healthy person with no illnesses, you'll still have a few that are just a few points out of the lab's "normal" range. This probably happens in 99% of people. It doesn't mean anything is wrong with the person or the person has any medical issues.
While the numbers aren't too high for now, I would certainly be doing tons of research into anything else that may cause high levels of AST.
I wouldn't get overly concerned, but certainly something is going on with your son. Document everything that's going on in your sons life right now - diet, activities, sleeping habits, or anything even slightly unusual.
I am always proactive with these things and like to stay on top of them rather than having to deal with a huge issue down the road when you might then have to make immediate decisions regarding surgery, or chemo, or intensive meds.
AST is nonspecific (unlike ALT, which is a more specific liver enzyme). I am an anesthesiologist, a former surgeon, and the mom of a 2 month old daughter. My daughter also had a mildly elevated AST on a recent blood draw. Since AST is nonspecific, if everything else looks normal the AST is likely elevated from mild muscle injury. Since my daughter was very tiny when her blood was drawn, just the little tourniquet on her arm caused enough transient muscle injury to elevate the AST. If you son had merely been active or strained a muscle mildly in any way the AST can be mildly elevated. Additionally, each hospital and lab has a slightly different "normal" range. If their high-end of normal is 40 , I'd call 42 normal in-and-of itself. Unless your son has other clinical symptoms or other unusual labs, this is probably nothing to worry about. If you're overly concerned you can have the lab rechecked. But since I think most physicians would consider it "normal" at 42, this really isn't warranted unless something else is going on!
I think you'll be better off talking with your child's doctor about the test results. I am a medical transcriptionist and oftentimes people freak out about lab results they get off of an automated system. Sometimes the values for children are higher than those listed for adults on the websites or on the automated systems. Here is some helpful information about AST testing, but it does not replace the significant value of speaking with your child's personal physician. As you can see, other symptoms, as well as any medications your child may have been taking at the time can effect the test results.
https://members.kaiserpermanente.org/kpweb/healthency.do?...
I wouldn't worry about it in a healthy child. All kinds of tiny things can show up in lab tests & that # just isn't enough to concern yourself with if all the others are ok. If it was a concern at all, the lab would have flagged it as a "critical level" & made sure the Dr. was notified. I have been a nurse for 17 years now & sometimes a level will be a tiny bit off & change back to normal next year on the next routine lab work. Have fun with your son!
