Is my liver doing its job properly?
High risk group and symptoms
First, let’s check if you falls under the High Risk Group below:
Excessive alcohol consumption over a long period
Alcohol and your liver don’t mix. The liver can only handle a certain amount of alcohol at any given time, so if you drink more than the liver can deal with by drinking too quickly, or drinking too much, your liver cells struggle to process it. In the long run, alcohol will damage liver cells and causes scarring.
People on large doses of vitamins & minerals
Especially vitamin A, vitamin D, iron and niacin and mix of herbal remedies. Why? For example 50% to 80% of your body’s total vitamin A source is stored in the liver. So excessive consumption can cause damage to your liver. Or that taking more iron supplements than recommended can cause serious liver damage because the body has no way of eliminating excess iron, so it accumulates in the organs and tissues, including the liver.
People on recreational drugs or on long term medication/drugs
Some drugs are directly injurious to the liver; others are transformed by the liver into chemicals that can cause injury to the liver directly or indirectly.
These drugs are identify to cause harm to liver : Acetaminophen (found in Tylenol), Allopurinol (to treat gout, seizures or bypass surgery), Antibiotics (especially to treat E coli), Antiretroviral regimens (to treat HIV), Anabolic Steroids, Oral contraceptives, Nitrofurantoin (to treat UTI and other bacteria infection) and Sulfonamides and Erythromycins (to treat Strep A, sinus, pneumonia, bronchitis etc)
There are also some symptoms of liver disease that you might be able to pick up
- Fatigue, vague abdominal pain or loss of appetite (these symptoms are non-specific to liver disease)
- Yellowing of skin or Jaundice due to the accumulation of bilirubin in the blood
- Itching, easy bruising due to decreased production of blood clotting factors by the diseased liver.
- Fluid accumulation in the legs or abdomen, due to increased pressure in the vessels going into the liver) *
- Mental confusion or coma due to increase in ammonia *
- Vulnerability to bacterial infections *
- Gastrointestinal bleeding, secondary to varices due to enlarged blood vessels in the esophagus or stomach *
* These symptoms are of severe, advanced liver disease related to cirrhosis.
If you falls under the high risk group or experience some of the symptoms above, do check out what our test tells you.
What does our tests tell you?
BioTest Liver Function Test Kit is a dip and read test based on urine specimen. In order to check if your liver is functioning properly, our test kit tests on two compounds – Bilirubin and Uro-bilinogen.
Bilirubin is a compound that is formed due to the breakdown of red blood cells. It will be carried to the liver by blood vessels and then to the intestines by means of a small duct connecting the liver with the intestine. This duct is called bile duct. Bilirubin can also be stored in the gall bladder. In the intestine, bilirubin can be converted to a compound called Uro-bilinogen by intestinal bacteria. A small percentage of this compound can be reabsorbed to the blood stream.
Increased levels of urobilinogen and/or bilirubin in blood will lead to its appearance in urine. There are a few conditions that may lead to the increase bilirubin and/or uro-bilinogen in blood and urine.
- Excessive breakdown of red blood cells.
- Obstruction of the bilary tract which is associated to gallstones, tumor or liver inflammation which will restrict the movement of bilirubin to the intestines on its way out of the body.
- Liver disease such as Hepatitis infection, liver cancer, cirrhosis (scaring of liver normally associated with chronic alcohol drinker).
It’s Easy
The BioTest Liver Function Test Kit box include a urine collection cup. Just collect your urine, then dip the test and take it out immediately.
It’s Fast
Compared the colour of the strip with the colour chart at the back of box. Read the interpretation in the Instruction for Use provided inside the box.
It’s Reliable
The test is highly accurate and it is the same test being used by physicians and laboratory to perform urine check.
More questions
Q If the colors of the reaction areas on the test strip are different than what they should be, what shall I do?
A In such case you are advised not to use this strip since it will not give accurate results. You have to use a new strip.
Q If results are read after more than one minute, are the results still reliable
A Best results are obtained at 60 seconds (1min.), if this time is exceeded, the results will not remain the same and may lead to false readings.
Q At what time of the day the test should be performed?
A This test can be done any time of the day. Try to minimize liquid uptake one hour before doing the test.
Q Why should I use fresh sample for this test?
A Bilirubin and Urobilinogen are sensitive to light and can be decomposed if left for long time. Accordingly, results may not reflect the actual concentration of these two compounds in the urine sample since they would have been partly decomposed.
Q Is there any indication of urine color?
A Presence of bilirubin in urine will make the color of urine quite dark. In this case the color is almost brownish orange. Other compounds and some kinds of food may cause urine coloration. So, urine color should not be used as a sole criteria for testing bilirubin.
Q What is hepatitis?
A Hepatitis is an inflammation in the liver that can be caused by infections with various organisms including bacteria and viruses (Hepatitis A, B, C…etc.) or parasites. Chemical toxins such as alcohol, drugs, and poisonous mushrooms can also damage the liver and cause it to become inflamed.
Q What is Billary Tract Obstruction?
A Bilary tract obstruction involves the blockage of any duct that carries bile (Bilirubin and other salts) from the liver to the gallbladder or from the gallbladder to the small intestine. This may be caused by bilary stones, tumor in the liver or inflammation of the liver. Jaundice and pain in the upper right abdomen that is accompanied with a pain in the back are the most important symptoms of such condition.
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