Routine physical examination for transaminase

Most of the routine physical examinations we often talk about, whether it is a work welfare physical examination, a community benefit physical examination, or a basic physical examination package purchased with your own money, will basically include transaminases in the scope of examination. A while ago, I accompanied the elderly at home to the community for an annual free routine physical examination for the elderly. The total budget of the package was only a hundred yuan. The liver function test clearly listed two aminotransferase tests, namely glutamic acid and aspartate. Not to mention the hundreds or even thousands of routine physical examination packages on the market.

Of course, not all physical examinations with the word "routine" will have this item. For example, in order to reduce recruitment costs, some small and micro enterprises will choose a minimalist entry physical examination that costs more than 100 yuan, retaining only the most basic items such as blood routine, chest X-ray, and medical and surgical examinations, and cutting off the liver function test, so naturally there will be no transaminase test. However, this extreme situation is indeed rare. After all, the cost of transaminase testing itself is not high, and the additional item alone only costs 20 to 30 yuan. Most institutions are willing to add this highly practical item when making packages.

The reason why transaminase is included in the standard routine physical examination is that it is the most sensitive "early warning light" of liver health - if you drank a pound of liquor the day before and stayed up for three or four nights in a row, even if the liver has not yet experienced organic changes, the transaminase may drift out of the normal range first. It is much more sensitive than imaging examinations such as abdominal B-ultrasound, and is very suitable for primary screening of liver health in the general population. Some friends were worried about whether testing transaminase is a disguised test for hepatitis B. In fact, it is completely different. The state has long made it clear that hepatitis B cannot be tested in the physical examination for employment. However, transaminase is a basic indicator of liver function, and it is compliant regardless of whether it is an employment or general physical examination. My friend joined an Internet company some time ago. Because he stayed up all night to catch up on projects before the physical examination, his transaminase was less than half the normal value, and he was asked to take a reexamination. Fortunately, in the end, it was just a transient increase caused by work and rest, and it did not affect his employment.

If you are not sure whether it is included in your physical examination package, just look through the list of items and look for the liver function test column. As long as there are the abbreviations ALT (alanine aminotransferase) and AST (aspartate aminotransferase), the aminotransferase test is included. If you don't find it and want to make up for it, it is very convenient to add items on site, and there is no complicated process.