Alcohol Use and GGT test

[Chriszz]

I am a 44 year old male, in good shape physically and thin. Prior to 2007 I had almost never drunk alcohol. However in the past two years I have unfortunately gotten into the habit of drinking 2-4 drinks per day about four days out of the week. I would like to know if I have damaged my liver through this to a level at which it will show up on a liver function test (GGT or similar). I have stopped drinking recently and plan on staying away from it permanently. If my liver enzymes are elevated, how long(if ever) will it take for them to return to normal levels?

Thank you.

[KjFlicka]

P.S. I think 6-9 months is the going wait time to see how well your liver recovers after you quit alcohol.

[mikesimon]

I wouldn't think you would see significant elevation with that amount of drinking over that period of time.
If do have an elevation in GGT or any of your liver enzymes I believe they will normalize if you stop or reduce your alcohol intake.
I am assuming that alcohol is the only liver insult going on. If, for instance, you had hepatitis c then alcohol might be more damaging. Alcohol seems to speed up HCV (hep c virus) damage to the liver.
You may be surprised to know that, for men, 2 drinks a day every day  confers significant cardiac benefit as well as lowering blood sugar and possibly reducing the likelihood of rheumatoid arthritis. With women it is 1 drink per day that is beneficial. Anything more than 2 in men and 1 in women and the benefit disappears and in its place a liability emerges and increases as alcohol intake increases. The study regarding cardiac benefit did not single out any particular alcohol though it mentioned that it did not factor in any possible added benefit from red wine.

I should mention that I am not a doctor. I am a patient and I have learned some things as a result of my situation.
Mike