Blood Work (definition)
When it comes to blood work results, you are basically looking for the following:
- AST (liver): The blood test for aspartate aminotransferase (AST) is usually used to detect liver damage. It is often ordered in conjunction with another liver enzyme, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), or as part of a liver panel or comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP) to screen for and/or help diagnose liver disorders
- ALT (liver): The alanine aminotransferase (ALT) test is typically used to detect liver injury. It is often ordered in conjunction with aspartate aminotransferase (AST) as part of a liver panel or comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP) to screen for and/or help diagnose liver disease.
- GGT (Liver): The GGT test is sometimes used to help detect liver disease and bile duct obstructions. It is usually ordered in conjunction with or as follow up to other liver tests such as ALT, AST, ALP, and bilirubin. (Read also about the Liver Panel.) In general, an increased GGT level indicates that a person’s liver is being damaged but does not specifically point to a condition that may be causing the injury.
- Uric Acid: The uric acid blood test is used to detect high levels of this compound in the blood in order to help diagnose gout.
- Lactate: lactic acidosis may also be caused by conditions unrelated to oxygen levels, this test may be used to evaluate someone who has a disease that can lead to increased lactate levels and who has signs and symptoms of acidosis. It may be ordered along with groups of tests, such as the comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP), basic metabolic panel (BMP), or complete blood count (CBC), to determine if an underlying condition, such as liver or kidney disease, is causing lactic acidosis
- Triglyceride: Blood tests for triglycerides are usually part of a lipid profile that is used to help identify an individual’s risk of developing heart disease. Triglyceride concentration are considered the most useful parameter for chronic metabolic control. Like blood glucose concentrations, lactate concentrations fluctuate rapidly, liver enzymes are only slightly increased before initiation of dietary management and rapidly normalize, and uric acid concentrations can be influenced by allopurinol treatment.
- Glucose: Detect high blood glucose (hyperglycemia) and low blood glucose (hypoglycemia).
