Multaq Liver Failure Legal Update
Multaq Liver Failure : Collectively called statins, this class of medications is used to treat elevated cholesterol and triglycerides. All statins work in similar ways, but the individual varieties may have differing degrees of potency. These medications have received extensive attention because they are widely used and have a propensity to cause elevations in liver enzymes (AST/ALT). It is estimated that 1 to 3 percent of patients taking statins will develop significantly elevated enzymes (greater than three times the upper limit of normal).
As the treatment guidelines for lowering cholesterol have become more aggressive over the past decade, the number of people taking these medications has increased substantially, leaving many clinicians (usually primary care providers) unclear about whether these medications should be used in patients with underlying liver disease and when to stop if liver enzymes become abnormal. These questions have not been fully answered, but statins seem extremely safe and should not be avoided by patients with underlying liver diseases if the statins are indicated for the treatment of high cholesterol or triglycerides. This is a clear case of the benefits outweighing the risks.
Most patients who develop an increase in liver enzymes during therapy with statins will have only transient and mild elevation, which will resolve if the medication is stopped.
Ezetimibe (Zetia). This is another cholesterol-lowering medication, but it is not in the statin class of drugs. This medication inhibits the intestinal uptake of cholesterol and is often used with a statin when cholesterol cannot be lowered by a statin alone. In extremely rare cases, reports have connected it with drug-induced liver injury, but it is regarded as having an excellent safety profile. However, it is currently undergoing réévaluation of its effectiveness in preventing heart disease and stroke.
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More than two dozen different blood tests are in current use to monitor specific liver functions and indicate disorders. That number does not include popular imaging studies, such as sonograms, CT scans, and MRIs. For patients, the landscape of liver testing resembles a confusing maze of high-tech jargon and initial-talk.
The liver is an unusually complex organ, responsible for filtering nearly every substance that comes into the body. As a result, it is vulnerable to a long list of potential hazards, from overloads of copper or iron to the hepatitis alphabet.
Many liver tests, such as the liver function tests sometimes referred to as a hepatic function panel (HFP), cannot accurately diagnose diseases because the disorders themselves have so many shared features. What liver function tests can do is to narrow the possibilities, advance the diagnostic procedures a step toward confirming the doctor s suspicions, and indicate which specialized tests the doctor and patient should undertake next. Imaging tests, too, can point the diagnostic team in the right direction. For some disorders, a more detailed scan, such as an MRI, can give a more definitive answer.
Liver function tests indicate how well the liver is performing particular functions and the levels of certain measurements associated with inflammation. Dozens of different LFTs are performed in hospitals, but they all measure the levels of liver proteins, liver enzymes (called transaminases and cholestatic liver enzymes), and bilirubin.
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Liver function tests that check the levels of aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) are looking for inflammation or injury to liver cells-—-in technical terms, hepatocellular liver injur)’’. When the liver is damaged, AST and ALT often leak into the bloodstream, so a blood test result that detected transamines would be a possible indicator of liver damage. However, AST is also found in the heart, kidneys, and muscles, so an elevated amount of AST doesn’t always mean a liver problem. When it is coupled with elevated ALT, which exists only in the liver, a higher AST level indicates that liver damage is more probable.
The extent of liver damage cannot be determined by high transaminase levels alone. If a patient drinks alcohol a few hours before the blood test or works out in the gym the morning his or her blood is drawn, the transaminase levels may be mildly elevated. On the other hand, if alcohol abuse damaged the liver five years ago, the transaminase level may be normal, but still there could be residual liver damage.
Moreover, men tend to have higher transaminase levels than women, and African American men usually show higher AST and ALT levels than Caucasian men. Almost everyone’s transaminase levels are higher in the morning than they are later in the day.
High, levels of AST and ALT serve as the first clues along a path of diagnostic testing to pinpoint what is wrong. Elevated transaminase levels might indicate strenuous exercise or recent alcohol use, but they could also be caused by a fatty liver, alcoholic liver disease, viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, a genetic liver disease, a tumor, heart or lung failure, or some toxic injury to the liver.
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