High muscle enzyme levels?

Question

my doctor said i have that. when i asked her what it is or why, she said come back and have the tests done in a month. does anyone know what this is?

Answer 1

"Muscle enzyme" means CK (creatine kinase, sometimes called CPK). It's found in muscle cells and there is always a certain amount of it in the blood. If muscle cells are damaged, more CK leaks out so you get a high result on a blood test. If you had CK measured because you were complaining of muscle aches and pains, a high result can indicate some kind of muscle problem, like some kind of inflammation, etc. If you're not having these symptoms, there are are some other common causes:

Are you black? Black people naturally have higher levels of CK - high enough to look 'abnormal' if the 'normal range' is based on a population that is mostly white. .

Do you do quite a bit of exercise? When your muscles work hard they release more CK, so if you regularly go the gym or go running etc, you can get a high result. Or if you were doing some kind of heavy physical activity within about 24 hours of your blood test, that could cause it. Or if you had recently had a physical injury.

Do you take medication for high cholesterol? If you take 'statin' medication then that can affect the muscles of some people. Doctors monitor CK in people on this medication and a rise in CK soon after starting it can be a warning sign to maybe reduce the dose or change the medication.

Rarely, people have a form of CK in their blood called 'macro CK'. This type of CK gives a high result on a blood test even though there is nothing wrong with the person's muscles at all. A special type of lab test needs to be done to detect this.

Since your doctor isn't going to measure it again for a month, it sounds like she isn't worried!

Answer 2

The enzyme predominantly found in muscles is CPK (or only CK). It has 3 major forms.

1. CPK-MB is found in Heart.

2. CPK-BB is found in Brain.

3. CPK-MM is found in skeletal muscles.

Since your Doctor has described it as 'Muscle Enzyme'; I am assuming it is CPK-MM

Common muscle conditions associated with diabetes are

1. Muscle cramps

2. Myositis- They are mostly autoimmune and are often found in association with Diabetes

3. Muscle involvement in peripheral neuropathy

4. Muscle infarction (rare)

5. Statin (drugs used for lowering cholesterol) therapy can also cause myositis. As you have described, this was also confirmed by your doctor and she advised you to stop the therapy.

Slightly elevated enzyme levels could be normally seen after vigorous exercise or muscle trauma. If levels of CPK (or CK) are elevated in the range of few hundreds, get the test redone in about 3-4 weeks. If they are still high then, consult a rheumatologist.

On the other hand, if CPK levels are in the range of (or around) thousand, I think this is myositis and needs to be attended by a specialist (i.e. rheumatologist) as early as possible.

The last thing I would advice is to keep use of ibuprofen (painkillers) to the possible minimum because they increase strain on the diabetic kidney.

wishing you a good health,

Answer 3

Because of:

1 - recent fever?

2 - recent heavy workout?

???? One test usually isn't indicative of much ... it's the increases and decreases.

If this was a normal checkup, I wouldn't worry unless they were spectacularly elevated.

Answer 4

The most common muscle enzyme measured is creatine kinase (CK).

CK level rises if there is any muscle damage and could be elevated quite normally if you have had a slight muscle accident or you have been exercising.

Your doctor sounds very sensible in not jumping to conclusions before checking your enzyme levels again. If the levels have come down to normal next month you can forget all about it. If the levels have not come down I'm sure your doctor will take the appropriate action to see what is causing the rise.

You didn't say why the levels were checked in the first place which makes it difficult to answer the question more fully.

If the test was done as part of a general health check for no particular reason I can assure you that it's not unusual to find "abnormal" results in perfectly healthy people. Normal ranges for laboratory investigations cover ninety percent of the population that has been investigated. A different population (age, s*x, race, geographical location) may have a different "normal" range. Even for the target population individual variation will give you high or low results that are normal for that person.

As I have already said, your doctor sounds very sensible. Go back, have the tests and ask her what they mean. If you ask her, she will tell you. If you want to you can take someone with you for support.