Infectious Diseases
Dengue Fever
Most dengue is survived at home. The danger opens on days three to seven, usually as the fever falls. These are the warning signs that mean hospital now.
28 Aug 202614 min read
Liver function test
Also known as LFT, Liver panel, Hepatic panel
A liver function test is a group of blood measurements that together show whether liver cells are being damaged, whether bile is flowing freely, and how well the liver is doing its manufacturing work. Most of what it reports is not, strictly, function.
The name is a historical misnomer worth knowing about. ALT and AST are enzymes that leak out of injured liver cells, so they measure damage rather than function. ALP and GGT rise when bile flow is obstructed. Only albumin, bilirubin and the clotting time actually reflect what the liver is still able to do. Reading the panel means asking which of those three patterns is disturbed.
What the numbers mean
| Component | What it indicates | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| ALT (SGPT) | Liver cell injury; the most liver-specific enzyme | Up to about 40 U/L |
| AST (SGOT) | Liver cell injury, but also muscle and heart | Up to about 40 U/L |
| ALP | Bile duct obstruction; also rises from bone, and normally in children and pregnancy | About 40–130 U/L |
| Bilirubin, total | Clearance of the pigment; high levels produce | 0.2–1.2 mg/dL |
| Albumin | The liver's manufacturing capacity over weeks | 3.5–5.0 g/dL |
The pattern matters more than any one value. A large rise in ALT and AST with modest ALP suggests hepatitis, whether viral, drug-induced or alcohol-related. A large rise in ALP and bilirubin with modest ALT suggests obstruction — a stone or a stricture — and usually means an the same week. Mildly raised enzymes with a normal albumin, common and often found by chance, most often reflect fatty liver from excess weight, or high .
Many things other than liver disease move these numbers: paracetamol overdose, a , antituberculosis treatment, herbal and unlabelled preparations, hard exercise before the test, and muscle injury, which raises AST alone. A single mildly abnormal panel is normally repeated after a few weeks with hepatitis B and C testing and an ultrasound, rather than acted on immediately.
Where this comes up
Medicines & Safety
Paracetamol: How Much Is Safe, and the Liver Risk
The safe adult maximum is 4 g in 24 hours. Above that it damages the liver, and for the first day or two an overdose causes almost no symptoms at all.
28 Aug 202611 min read
General Medicine
Fever in Adults: What It Means and When to Worry
Most fevers settle within three days. In Pakistan a fever that lasts longer needs testing for dengue, typhoid or malaria — and a few need help the same hour.
27 Aug 20269 min read
Cardiology
High Cholesterol: What the Numbers Mean
LDL is the number that matters, and the report alone does not decide treatment. How to read a lipid profile, and what genuinely brings cholesterol down.
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Related terms
- JaundiceIcterus, YarqanJaundice is a yellow discolouration of the whites of the eyes and the skin caused by too much bilirubin in the blood. It is a sign rather than a disease, and the cause ranges from a harmless newborn phase to serious liver or bile duct illness.
- UltrasoundSonography, Ultrasound scanAn ultrasound scan builds images from high-frequency sound waves reflected back off the body's tissues. It uses no radiation, which is why it is the scan used in pregnancy.
- StatinHMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, AtorvastatinStatins are medicines that lower cholesterol by reducing how much the liver makes. They are taken to lower the long-term risk of heart attack and stroke, not to treat a symptom.
- BiopsyTissue sampling, Histopathology sampleA biopsy is the removal of a small piece of tissue so that it can be examined under a microscope. It is the test that settles what a lump, an ulcer or an abnormal patch actually is, when scans and blood tests can only suggest.