Alkaline Phosphatase

(Darlene Horsley) #1

Just noticed on my September 3rd blood work results (pre-keto) that my alkp is (low) 39. From what I have read being low is rare. Biggest cause? Malnutrition.
Is that from carbage? Thoughts? Hard to believe from all the sodas I drank.

(VLC.MD) #2

What’s the range ?
alk phos is not an effective screening tool for malnutrition.
It is a test that gets ordered too much and often leads to confusion (Guilty as charged).
It can help detect liver and bone disorders, neither of which you have …so I’d ignore the test.

if albumin is normal and alkphos is low, you dont have malnutrition.

(Darlene Horsley) #3

Range said 50 to 136 and threw me into low at 39. Albumin was in range at 3.6
I’m seriously not suffering from malnutrition, that’s for sure. Lol
It’s nice to hear your input and I will ignore. I just thought it was odd and I thank you much for your reply. :slight_smile:

(Todd Allen) #4

4 months ago my ALKP was also very low. But everything else looked excellent except for borderline high LDL. My doc said given my other numbers he thought the low ALKP was unlikely an indicator of trouble and probably a benign side effect of my rapid weight loss from repeated fasts.

I’ve continued doing fasts sustaining weight loss averaging 1.8 lbs per week. Which I intend to continue until I am roughly 8-10% BF if all goes well. Will have more testing done next week, including a dexa scan tomorrow, to confirm I’m on track with nothing scary triggered by the fasting.

(VLC.MD) #5

Might be a keto thing.

alk phos … 1/2 comes from the liver 1/2 from bone.
not sure how either of those could be impacted by keto.

(Darlene Horsley) #6

And mine was before I had started Keto. Interesting I think.

(Todd Allen) #7

Here was my result from late May. I should have a new result next week.
ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE 29L 40 - 115 U/L

I previously had fatty liver and very elevated AST & ALT. Both came down, ALT within the reference range, AST mildly elevated but likely from muscle as I have a muscle wasting disease. My bone density from a dexa scan was excellent though if it is based on body weight my rapid weight loss might be making it look better.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #8

Interesting, I just checked my report from Feb 17, the range used by LabCorp is 39-117. Looks like different labs call different amounts the “range”.

Sounds like you are fine, eating keto it would be hard to be malnurished. Are you due for a retest soon?

(Darlene Horsley) #9

@collaroygal
That IS interesting. Who knew?
My results were 3 days before I started KETO. So it will be interesting to see what it is when the blood work is redone in March. I doubt I was malnourished in either case. Maybe some deficiencies due to eating crappy carbs and such?

(VLC.MD) #10

The SAME lab can have a different range. Essentially the same lab can run a different assay.

(Karen Parrott) #11

Here’s some more reading on ALK P
https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/alp/tab/test

It’s on my insurance screen every year. Not really sure why… but it’s there… fasting insulin might be more useful for me.

(VLC.MD) #12

Insurance testing is based on economic science, not health science.

(Karen Parrott) #13

Truth!!! I can tell from the shifting of insurance discounts qualifications. I now qualify for $60 per 2 weeks. But I sure can’t do what they recommend…

I might guess the insurance team is looking for Hep C or alcohol abuse more so than fatty liver
2017 to 2014 left to right on this 'Liver Health" I was keto the the first 3 columns, with the 4th column being 2014 and LCHF. Since I don’t drink, am not high risk for Hep C, have had Hep A and B vaccines, no tattoos
why test? Just in the algorithm mill of the insurance company. Edited to add the reference ranges below are Quest Diagnostics, 2017

Liver Health 2014-2017

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #14

Great, so we have no way of really knowing what is “normal”. The current medical systems (pharma, patient care, labs) is so screwed up it is not even funny.

(VLC.MD) #15

Me Me Me. All you patients are the same. Greedy Greedy Greedy. Please … all of you repeat after me:

“Ask not what your Disease-Care system can do for you, but what you can do for Disease-Care” VLC.MD

Just because you aren’t benefiting from US Disease Care doesn’t mean someone isn’t.

me sad.

FWIW, I have no ties to US Healthcare !

(Darlene Horsley) #16

Awwww don’t be sad VLC.MD. I have a curious mind and you have generously answered so many things for me; not just with replies to my post but your replies to others posts as well. I thank you for that. After all, I’m pretty sure you don’t want curiosity killing the cat here. Wink.

Low Alkaline Phosphatase on keto
(VLC.MD) #17

Found my source on the details of alkaline phosphatase !
http://www.acb.org.uk/docs/default-source/committees/scientific/amalc/alp.pdf
I loved it. YMMV.
Mostly targeted at Clinicians.

Hi @Darlene_Horsley - can you add the words “Alkaline Phosphatase” to the title … so I can find this again if needed :slight_smile:

(Darlene Horsley) #18

@VLC.MD
Gladly. And done. I changed the title to Alkaline Phosphatase.

Very interesting read! Thank you…again!

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #19

Not Darlene but you can bookmark anything you want to come back to it at a later time.
See the … to the left of the Reply at the bottom of postings? Click into those, you will have a bookmark symbol, click that to darken it and you can then just go to your profile area, by pressing G and P at the same time. You will see the bookmarks as an option on the left. All your bookmarked things will display in the central panel.

(Tracey Porreca) #20

Hello Everyone - My name is Tracey Porreca and I am the Hypophosphatasia (HPP) Division consultant for the MAGIC Foundation. I was lead here by a google alert about discussions regarding low alkaline phosphatase levels. First, some of what has been posted here about alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is true, but some needs adjustment. The hallmark of HPP is a low alkaline phosphatase level. If you look up the disorder HPP, most of what you will find discusses the more severe forms of it, usually obvious at birth or shortly after. However, there are milder forms of this disorder and it is possible to go well into your adult years (my father was in his 60’s) before you are diagnosed. As was mentioned, there are not a lot of things that can cause an ALP to be low, but if you do have a low ALP, it is imperative you have this investigated, and by someone who is familiar with HPP. My suggestion to those of you who have experienced low ALP levels would be to look back at your past labwork and see if you can find other low ALP’s. If your ALP is consistently low, it is very reasonable to assume you have this disorder. Some of the symptoms you might experience with HPP are some of the things that might lead you to start a ketogenic diet in the first place. I highly encourage you to look at 2 websites, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. First, check out our website and my story for more information on the disorder: https://www.magicfoundation.org/Growth-Disorders/Hypophosphatasia/ And second, check out this website which was actually developed for physicians, but has a lot of useful info: http://hypophosphatasia.com/hcp/ Please don’t overlook this. There is a treatment available and with proper diet and treatment you can do well. This is genetic so it is very possible if you have this, there are others in your family who are walking around with it, not knowing they have it either. The longer it is ignored, the more trouble it can cause. Please feel free to message me or email me from the MAGIC Foundation link above. Thanks