Alkaline Phosphatase Elevation Causes: High ALP Reasons

There are various types of enzymes that are present in the human body in the form of catalysts, which aid in accelerating various types of physiological activities. Alkaline phosphatase or ALP is such a type of enzyme that is found in the blood that helps in the process of breaking down of proteins.

Many health care experts often advise their patients to undergo blood tests to check the levels of ALP. This is important for your health because when you check the ALP levels in your body, it will be easier for you to understand whether ALP in your body is high or low, and the abnormalities in ALP levels can be treated accordingly.

This article will help you to have a clear understanding what ALP is all about, what high levels of ALP mean, what are the causes, symptoms, and areas of concern regarding the dangerous levels of ALP, and other necessary details.

What is ALP all about? The details to know about ALP

ALP is one of the most beneficial enzymes in the body, that is found in various parts of the body, but are present in greater amounts in organs like the liver, the intestines, and also in your bones. It is mostly due to this reason that doctors often recommend their patients to get their ALP levels checked through blood tests. So, when the levels of ALP become abnormal in the body, there might be high chances that the person might be suffering from liver or bone disorders.

If blood tests show that your ALP levels are high or low, then it is highly recommended that you need to consult a health care professional at once. The doctor may recommend medicines and treatment procedures which can help to lower the risks of health issues resulting from high or low ALP levels.

The major functions of ALP:

ALP is a crucial enzyme in the body that performs the following functions:

 Helps in carrying enzymes and other nutrients to the liver

 Helps in the formation and growth of bones

 Aids in cell growth

 Improves digestion by help in the transport of phosphates, fatty acids and calcium in the intestines.

ALP blood tests: High and low levels of ALP

Blood tests that help to measure the amounts of enzymes like Alkaline phosphatase or ALP in the body can also help to show whether the levels of ALP that are present in the body are abnormal or not. Extreme levels of ALP in the body may be related to severe types of health problems such as liver diseases, a bone disorder, problems in your kidneys, some types of cancer, and various other health conditions.

Abnormal levels of ALP in the body, when left without proper diagnosis and are not treated for a long time, can become dangerous for your health and can result into a lot of health complications. So, it is important to perform your blood tests to get a clear idea whether the levels of ALP are at am optimum in your body.

It is also important to note here, that ALP levels in your body can become high if there are conditions like pregnancy or bone development in children and adolescents. In such cases, if blood tests show high ALP levels, they are mostly harmless.

What is the normal level of ALP in the body?

Before understanding the dangerous levels of ALP , it is important to know what the optimum level of ALP in the body is. Though the measuring and the reference levels of ALP may vary from one lab to the other, the normal level in adults mostly ranges between 44 to 147 units per liter (IU/L) approximately. Some labs and organizations are also known to say that 30 to 120 IU/L is considered normal. But in most cases, the high end of the normal ALP range is considered to be 147 IU/L.

In fact, there are certain factors that are also responsible for understanding the normal levels of ALP in the body, some of which include a person’ age, ethnicity, sex assigned at birth, health conditions and medical history of a person (including pregnancy), and so on.

When do high levels of ALP become dangerous?

High levels of ALP in the body itself is a condition that can be detrimental to your health, but the condition becomes dangerous when the ALP levels go beyond 300 IU/L. When ALP levels between 500 and 1000 IU/L, the conditions become severe as this may indicate that such high ALP levels can worsen liver functioning. Many health care professionals suggest that ALP conditions might become dangerous when the levels rise beyond 1000 IU/L.

Such dangerous levels of ALP as revealed through blood tests can indicate the chances of developing various types of severe health conditions including cancer, liver failure, or severe bone loss.

What happens when you have high ALP levels?

High levels of ALP, to the extent that they become dangerous for your health, can result in to a lot of health complications. Some of the most common conditions that are likely to occur if you have high or dangerous levels of ALP, include the following:

1. Conditions of the liver:

• Nausea and vomiting

• Appetite loss

• Swelling in your ankles and legs

• Dark-colored pee and/or light-colored poop

• Frequent itching

• Fatigue and feelings of extreme exhaustion ans weakness

• Jaundice, which causes your skin and eyes to turn yellow

• Swelling and/or pain in your abdomen

2. Problems that develop in the bones:

• Bone pain

• Bones become fragile

• Broken bones

• Inflammation and arthritis in your joints

• Unusually shaped bones

• Bones become enlarged

The symptoms listed above are some of the most dominant that may occur if you have elevated or extreme levels of ALP in the body. Apart from these, there might be other conditions like digestion related problems, issues in gut movement.

These symptoms are important to note, because once you notice that your body is developing these conditions, you may immediately seek medical help.

The possible causes of high levels of ALP:

Health care professionals reveal that high levels of ALP are related to liver and biliary diseases. Though the exact cause of having higher than normal ranges of ALP in your body is under research, there are some common conditions, that are often considered to be responsible for extreme or dangerous levels of ALP:

 High risks of liver cancer and cirrhosis

 Hepatitis

 Untreated celiac disease

 Blockage in the bile ducts

 Narrowing of the bile ducts

 Mononucleosis

 Cholestasis of pregnancy, characterized by a liver condition that occurs late in pregnancy

 Inflammatory conditions including primary biliary cholangitis or PBC or primary sclerosing cholangitis or PSC

 Side effects of certain medications and toxins.

Health conditions high levels of ALP are linked to:

When a person’s blood test results show that there ALP levels are high, then it may be related to the following conditions:

• Males belonging to the age group of 15-50 usually have slightly higher ALP levels.

• ALP levels may increase as a person ages

• Children and adolescents may have slightly increased levels of ALP as their bones are still developing

• You may have high ALP levels if you smoke excessively

• If you have a broken bone, then it can temporarily increase ALP.

• For some people, eating a fatty meal before an ALP blood test can cause higher-than-normal levels.

• ALP may go up by as much as three times when the patient is pregnant.

The diseases that high APL can indicate:

When a person is diagnosed with high levels of APL through blood tests, then they are more likely to develop liver or bone problems, but if their APL levels are dangerous, they may have developed the following health issues:

• Cancers that have spread to your bones

• Paget’s disease, a health condition which affects how bones grow

• Extreme deficit of vitamin D

• Problems related to the functioning of thyroid gland.

Whether you have developed these conditions or not would be particularly evident when you go through an ALP isoenzyme test.

Is it dangerous if you have low levels of ALP?

Now that we know elevated levels of ALP can be quite dangerous, and often life-threatening, it is also important to note what happens to your health when the ALP levels are low. Low levels of ALP may occur as a result of side effects of different medications, including hormonal birth control. Though such cases are not very common, some people may be diagnosed with low levels of ALP.

The following are the conditions which are linked to low levels of ALP:

 Thyroid gland problems, particularly hypothyroidism

 Deficiency of minerals such as zinc and magnesium

 Low levels of vitamins in the body like vitamin B12

 Hypophosphatasia or HPP

 Tendencies of anemia.

Conclusion:

As final words, it is important to keep your ALP levels under check. For that, you need to undergo blood tests that will help to keep a track of the APL levels in the body. Based on the signs and symptoms that you might be developing and the levels of APL in your blood tests show, your health care professional will be able to decide whether your APL levels are dangerous and thus will help to cure your health issues accordingly.