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ANSWER TO QUESTION OF THE WEEK: (7/10/05)
Despite what one might expect, high levels of liver enzymes (transaminases - AST and ALT) in the blood don’t always reveal just how badly the liver is inflamed or damaged. This is an extremely important point to keep in mind. The normal ranges for AST and ALT are around 0 to 40 IU/L and 0 to 45 IU/L respectively. (IU/L stands for international units per liter and is the most commonly accepted way to measure these particular enzymes.) But someone who has an ALT level of 50 IU/L is not necessarily in better condition than someone with an ALT level of 250 IU/L! This is because these blood tests measure inflammation and damage to the liver at an isolated point in time. For instance, if the liver is inflamed on the day that blood was drawn—let’s say if a patient consumes an alcoholic drink a few hours prior to blood being drawn—the levels of the transaminases may be much higher than if the alcohol had not been consumed. Following the same reasoning, if the liver was damaged years before—by excessive alcohol use—the results of a blood test done today may be normal, but a damaged liver may still be present.
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Dr. Palmer is an internationally renowned hepatologist who has been practicing medicine since 1985. She maintains perhaps the largest private medical practice devoted to liver disease in the United States. Dr. Palmer graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. and was trained in hepatology (as well as medical school) at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. She has authored numerous scientific publications in the field of hepatology in such peer-reviewed journals as Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Seminars of Liver Disease, Transplantation and Archives of Internal Medicine.
She is frequently called upon by the media for her opinion on various topics related to liver disease. Dr. Palmer has appeared many times on television as a liver disease expert and has been quoted in such publications as TIME magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine, Prevention magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Newsday. She also has appeared in numerous videos and CD-Roms aimed at educating doctors and the public about hepatitis C and other liver diseases, such as primary biliary cirrhosis.Dr. Palmer lectures to the medical and general public on liver disease-related topics on a regular basis. She also serves as a liver consultant to five major pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Palmer is a board member of the New York chapter of the American Liver Foundation, and she sits on the nutrition subcommittee of the national chapter of the American Liver Foundation, the medical advisory board of the Latino Organization for Liver Awareness (LOLA) and the medical advisory board of the Primary Biliary Cirrhosis Organization (PBCers). She has also been a member of the practice guidelines committee of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease(AASLD) and currently sits on the enduring educational materials committee of AASLD.
Dr. Palmer has performed trials on various experimental medication for the treatment of hepatitis. She is currently conducting research on new therapies for liver disease, specifically in the area of hepatitis C.
Her practice is located on Long Island, New York. (Main office located at: 1097 Old Country Road, Suite 104, Plainview, N.Y. 11803.
Satellite office located at 500 Portion Rd. Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y. 11779)
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If you are interested in arranging an appointment with Melissa Palmer, M.D., please call (516) 939-2626.
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