Angie . 7/15/26 Angie . 7/15/26

Sodium

Low serum sodium is not always about too little salt coming in. In cirrhosis, it can be about too much water being held in the body, which dilutes the sodium in the blood. The issue may not be that there is no sodium.

The issue may be that the sodium is spread through too much fluid.

And it is why the obvious answer — “just eat more salt” — is not necessarily the answer at all.

Angie . 7/12/26 Angie . 7/12/26

Albumin

Physicians look at your albumin level to evaluate the true "working power" or synthetic capacity of your liver . They also use albumin to understand your blood's oncotic pressure—the magnetic force that keeps fluid safely inside your blood vessels instead of leaking out into your tissues. When a hepatologist looks at your metabolic profile, they evaluate albumin as a directly measured metric alongside your "Total Protein" panel.

Angie . 6/12/26 Angie . 6/12/26

Creatinine

Creatine and creatine both sound like gym culture. Protein tubs. Men in sleeveless shirts explaining macros with the confidence of a podcast host in a backwards hat.

Are they related? Technically, yes, in the way that medical words love to be related just enough to make patients feel stupid. Creatine is involved in muscle energy. Creatinine is a waste product that comes from normal muscle metabolism and gets cleared by the kidneys.

Angie . 6/9/26 Angie . 6/9/26

ALT

ALT is a liver enzyme doctors track to see whether liver cells are actively irritated, inflamed, or being injured. It can rise during autoimmune hepatitis flares, medication reactions, viral injury, fatty liver changes, or other active stress, but it does not measure how scarred the liver already is.

Angie . 6/7/26 Angie . 6/7/26

AST

AST is found in high amounts within liver cells, it is an enzyme that also lives inside cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle, kidneys, and the brain. When these specific cells experience stress, injury, or active degradation, their cellular membranes become permeable, leaking AST directly into your blood

Angie . 6/7/26 Angie . 6/7/26

Calcium

A physician is looking past your skeletal system to evaluate how well your organs are communicating. Primarily, they are investigating the albumin relationship. Nearly half of all calcium in your blood rides on the back of a liver-produced protein called albumin. When cirrhosis destroys the liver’s ability to synthesize albumin, total calcium readings plummet artificially.

Angie . 5/12/26 Angie . 5/12/26

Bilirbuin

Bilirubin is a yellow pigment made when the body breaks down old red blood cells. The liver’s job is to process bilirubin and move it out through bile, so a rising bilirubin level can mean that clearing system is getting backed up. When bilirubin builds up, it can show up in ways people actually notice: yellow eyes or skin, dark urine, pale stool, and itching.