Frequent, severe stomach pain. Diagnosed high AST. Reasons?
Patient: I was in the ER the other night with severe stomach pain.  After doing a blood test, they discovered that I have a high AST (90) and a normal ALT.  I'm 30 years old and exercise regularly (3-4 times a week) and drink 1-2 times a month.  I don't have any other significant health history other than frequent stomachaches.  Can you tell me any possible reasons for this? Doctor: Hi, thanks for using healthcare magic  AST is normally used to assess any structural or functional changes to the liver though it can be found in other parts of the body. An increase in AST may occur in as a result of : (1) infection to the liver - the most common infection is hepatitis but this would normally be associated with other symptoms such as fatigue, fever, headache, loss of appetite (2) trauma (3) alcoholic liver disease (4) non alcoholic fatty liver- this is increasing in prevalence. It is the build up of fat in the liver as a result of diet, it results is inflammation of the liver (5) gallstones  (6)presence of any mass in the liver  The increase is AST may be related to one of these conditions. Your doctor may suggest repeating the value in a few weeks to see if it changes. An ultrasound or some other form of imaging may also be necessary.  I hope this helps