Liver Functionality: Blood Tests to Monitor It While On Steroids

The liver is the largest internal organ in an adult man, weighing around 1.5 kg. The liver has a central role in our metabolism, i.e.. the process of substance exchange in our body. To enable successful liver functionality, around 1.5 l of blood goes through the liver in a minute, making up around 1/4 of the blood volume delivered from the heart. Two-thirds of this blood volume comes to the liver in the portal vein.

This vein delivers substances absorbed in the digestive tract, processed in the liver, and then either stored in the body or excreted in the bloodstream. Liver cells have numerous metabolic functions that happen thanks to blood delivery.

All liver cells have their role in metabolism: processing proteins, fats, carbs, bilirubin, pancreas acids, vitamins, minerals, and some hormones.

Liver Functionality and Steroids

 As mentioned above, the liver is an essential organ that performs many bodily functions. An impaired liver can bring many complications or kill you very fast. It detoxifies the blood and produces bile, which helps break down fats. The liver is vital to our health, and it can be damaged by certain drugs or conditions, such as those that are caused by alcohol abuse or obesity. When this happens, your doctor might prescribe you steroids to help reduce inflammation.

Doctors want to monitor patients' liver functionality while on steroids because it can cause increased levels of cholesterol in the body, which may lead to a heart attack or stroke. This article will discuss how doctors monitor liver functionality while on steroids and how they try to minimize the risk of severe side effects from taking these drugs. Please note that the information contained here is a result of independent research.

Doctors want to monitor patients' liver functionality while on steroids because it can cause increased levels of cholesterol in the body, which may lead to a heart attack or stroke. This article will discuss how doctors monitor liver functionality while on steroids and how they try to minimize the risk of severe side effects from taking these drugs. The liver is an essential organ that performs many functions in the body. It detoxifies the blood and produces bile, which helps break down fats.

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Liver function can be compromised for numerous reasons, one being (ab) using anabolic steroids. To determine if your liver is under stress because of your steroid use, you should do liver blood tests, and here, we shall evaluate some possible blood test options.

GGT – One of The Most Important Blood Test For Evaluating Liver Function:

GGT is an enzyme whose increased values say very specifically about specific liver damage due to medicines (such as steroids) or alcohol abuse. It can also indicate pancreas damage.

According to some research, the GGT value decreases after the meal, so you should give blood for this testing in the morning, before breakfast—consuming the slightest alcohol within 24 hours before testing will elevate the GGT value. GGT is a very sensitive indicator of liver disease. It is increased in any liver disease, so GGT should be done with other analyses to determine the illness in question.

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GGT Increased Values Indicate:

• obstruction of pancreas paths (for example, in the case of pancreas stone)
• any hepatitis type
• Malignant processes in the liver
• infective hepatitis
• fat liver
• alcohol hepatitis

There are some other reasons for increased GGT values, such as:

• Acute or chronic pancreatitis
• alcoholism
• obesity
• diabetes
• hyperthyroidism
• heavy smoking

It must be noted that exercising doesn't have a significant effect on GGT values.

Normal Value GGT:

Average GGT values are different for women; women have significantly lower GGT values in the blood. After 50 years of age, these differences decrease. Children have different reference values. It must be noted that reference values for African people are about two times higher.

The average GGT value removes any reason for concern about liver damage due to steroid use. Increased GGT value indicated a series of problems and is the reason for additional testing, especially in combination with elevated AST/ALT values.

Serum Bilirubin – Another Important Blood Test For Detecting Liver Function:

Bilirubin serum test is another critical test when determining liver function. Elevated bilirubin indicates liver disease because bile doesn't leave the liver as it should. Bile deposits in the liver can happen due to oral anabolic steroids use.

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There are Several Causes For Abnormal Bilirubin Values, Such as:

• gallstone, which obstructs bile excretion
• hepatitis
• tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, lymphoma
• a genetic disease, such as Dubine-Jonson syndrome, Rotor Syndrome
• autoimmune disease, some infections, and other disorders that damage the liver
• Wilson disease

Just as in the case of GGT, bilirubin cannot be elevated due to exercise. It is, of course, best if bilirubin stays within a reference value. However, even when perfectly healthy, quite a few individuals will sometimes exceed the reference limit, as in cases of some infections or alcohol abuse. This means that bilirubin alone is not a complete and definite indicator of liver damage.

ALT Tests:

ALT is an enzyme produced by the liver to metabolize proteins. A VA with a very high level of ALT in the blood can indicate liver damage, which might make it tough to restore liver health. This means that it is recommended not to wait for the ALT value to be high before being concerned about it.

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Conclusion:

If all three tests are normal, i.e., levels of the mentioned enzymes/serum in the blood are within reference values, then your liver is in good health, and there is no reason for worry.

We recommend you read this post on How to protect the liver during the steroid cycle to get more insights on this topic.