FYI-abnormal liver function tests and training

Betsy Kantor

For those fellow older age groupers who will be getting their annual labs with their checkups, I had an interesting experience this summer.  I finally found a day where I could fast and get to the lab for the blood draw 6 months after my checkup (a vacation day with only a swim on the schedule.)  I have followed the zone and paleo diets for years so all the lipid numbers were great.  However, my AST and ALT which are used for evidence of liver function were slightly elevated-like 10-15 points (hepatitis is elevation in the 1000s.)  So I was told told to recheck in a month and quit taking any herbal supplements (which I do take many and did not stop.)  Meantime I talked to gastroenerology friends who said these values are nonspecific and (drum roll....) can also come from muscle breakdown.  This particular person, a pediatric gastroenerologist says she sees it all the time in kids.  So, in a month I repeated the liver function tests with a CPK (enzyme for muscle breakdown) and the skeletal muscle fraction.  The AST/ALT were even a few points higherand the CPK was double normal with a high skeletal muscle fraction. My primary was freaked out and insisted I see a GI specialist so I told the story over the phone to the gastroenterologist who did my colonoscopy five years ago and she said no worries.   Moral of story, tell your primary to stay calm if your AST/ALT is elevated-all of us who train hard and have lots of daily muscle break down, will likely have this slight bump in AST/ALT.  

Dave Campbell

Had the same type experience when I moved and went to a new Doc. He freaked a bit at first. He is also a cyclist, triathlete and calmed down when he heard the training I was doing! I told him I trained hard and recovered with beers, he just laughed.