# What does this hepatitis blood test result mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-hepatitis-blood-test-result-mean/705210 "2014-11-20T23:07:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-hepatitis-blood-test-result-mean/705210/1 "2014-11-20T23:07:54Z")
(Boilerplate disclaimer; none of you are my doctor and I am not asking for medical advice; just looking for a plain-and-simple explanation of some medical jargon.) Last month I went in to the doctor for my yearly blood test, and a few days later my doctor called me back for a followup appointment where I discovered that I had some elevated liver enzymes. He said the levels weren’t high enough to indicate that there was something severe going on, but high enough to warrant investigation, so he set me up for a couple of other screenings to try to identify the cause; an ultrasound (which I did yesterday and haven’t heard the results from yet), an appointment with a gastroenterological specialist which isn’t for a few more weeks, and a second blood test to check for any signs of hepatitis exposure, the results of which came in the mail today. It looks like I came up negative for all of those (which is good!), but I’m a little confused about the result of the Hepatitis C screening. These are my results exactly as they appear on the paperwork I got in the mail; [QUOTE=My blood screening results] Hep A Ab, IgM: Negative HBsAg Screen: Negative Hep B Core Ab, IgM: Negative Hep C Virus Ab: 0.2 [/QUOTE] The report goes on to state that for hepatitis C, a score of less than 0.8 denotes a negative result and greater than 0.9 denotes a positive, but what I’m wondering is why I’d have a score higher than 0 in the first place. I’m guessing that “Ab” is short for “antibody”; would the fact that I have hepatitis C antibodies in my system indicate that I’ve been exposed to it in the past? I’ve never been diagnosed with hepatitis in my life or exhibited any symptoms of it; is it possible that I could have been exposed without ever becoming symptomatic? Or is this background noise, or am I misunderstanding it entirely? I already have a followup appointment with my doctor scheduled for a few weeks from now where I’m sure I’ll learn more about the results of the various tests I’m being subjected to - I’m just curious right now what this particular test says about me. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-hepatitis-blood-test-result-mean/705210/2 "2014-11-21T02:35:18Z")
Probably just non-specific ‘noise’ in the test procedure/result. The bottom line is that it’s negative. Did you know that something like forty percent of people who use acetaminophen at recommended doses have elevated liver enzymes? Hold on, where’s that reference? Ah, found [it](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=JAMA+2006%3B+296%3A87-93). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-hepatitis-blood-test-result-mean/705210/3 "2014-11-21T13:57:23Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Last month I went in to the doctor for my yearly blood test, and a few days later my doctor called me back for a followup appointment where I discovered that I had some elevated liver enzymes. He said the levels weren’t high enough to indicate that there was something severe going on, but high enough to warrant investigation, so he set me up for a couple of other screenings to try to identify the cause If the enzyme elevations weren’t high enough to be of significant concern, it might’ve been better to 1) check on whether any medications (including OTC supplements) could have been responsible, and then 2) just recheck the blood test in a few months instead of having you go through all those other tests. I speak as someone who years ago got back a test result showing markedly elevated liver function tests. A repeat test showed normal readings. If you do enough blood work, eventually you’ll get a wrong result. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-hepatitis-blood-test-result-mean/705210/4 "2014-11-21T14:44:41Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Probably just non-specific ‘noise’ in the test procedure/result. The bottom line is that it’s negative. > > Did you know that something like forty percent of people who use acetaminophen at recommended doses have elevated liver enzymes? Hold on, where’s that reference? Ah, found [it](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=JAMA+2006%3B+296%3A87-93). That study was at the old 4 gram per day recommended dosage. I think in 2011 they lowered the recommended dosage to no more than 3 grams per day. Still, there’s what I consider a narrow range between a therapeutic dose and a harmful dose of acetaminophen. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-hepatitis-blood-test-result-mean/705210/5 "2014-11-21T18:01:51Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > That study was at the old 4 gram per day recommended dosage. I think in 2011 they lowered the recommended dosage to no more than 3 grams per day. Fair enough. Still, although you’d expect fewer and/or less marked abnormalities with 3 gram per day, AFAIK, the maximum recommended daily dose remains at 4 grams in Canada.