This test determines the amount of ammonia in your blood. Ammonia, often known as NH3, is a waste product produced by the body during protein breakdown. Ammonia is normally held in the liver, which converts it into urea, another waste product. Urine contains urea, which is excreted by the body.
Ammonia accumulates in circulation if your body cannot handle or remove it. High blood ammonia levels can cause major health concerns such as brain damage, unconsciousness, and even other serious conditions.
High blood ammonia levels are most commonly caused by liver illness. Kidney failure and genetic diseases are two more possible causes.
Other names: NH3 test, blood ammonia test, serum ammonia, plasma ammonia.
What is the use of the Ammonia Levels Test?
An ammonia level test can be used to diagnose and monitor conditions that result in elevated ammonia levels. These are some examples:
- Hepatic encephalopathy : It occurs when the liver becomes too diseased or damaged to effectively handle ammonia. Ammonia accumulates in the blood and flows to the brain in this illness. It has the potential to produce confusion, disorientation, and coma. It is occasionally lethal.
- Reye syndrome : It is a dangerous and sometimes deadly disorder that involves liver and brain damage. It primarily affects children and teens who have used aspirin to treat viral diseases such as chicken pox or the flu. Reye syndrome has no recognized etiology. However, due to the danger, adolescents and teenagers should not take aspirin unless prescribed by their doctor.
- Urea cycle disorders : These are uncommon genetic anomalies that impair the body's capacity to convert ammonia to urea.
The test might potentially be used to assess the efficacy of therapy for liver disease or renal failure.
What is the need for an ammonia level test?
This test may be required if you have a liver illness and signs of a brain problem. Among the symptoms are:
- Confusion
- Excessive sleepiness(hypersomnia)
- Disorientation- the condition of being confused about time, place, and surroundings.
- Mood swings
- Hand tremors
Your child may need this test if he or she has symptoms of Reye syndrome. These include:
Your newborn baby may need this test if he or she has any of the above symptoms. The same symptoms may be a sign of a urea cycle disorder.
What happens during an ammonia level test?
A healthcare professional will use a small needle to take blood from a vein in your arm. Following needle insertion, a small amount of blood will be collected as a sample in a test tube or vial. You may feel a minor sting when the needle is inserted or removed. This usually takes less than five minutes.
Prior to the test
One should avoid activity and smoke for at least eight hours before an ammonia test.
Is there any risk associated with the test?
Having a blood test poses relatively no risk or danger. Kids may have little discomfort or bruises where the needle was inserted, but mostly it will go soon.
A healthcare expert will wipe your baby's heel with alcohol and jab the heel with a little needle to test him or her. The provider will take a few drops of blood and apply a bandage to the wound.
What do the findings imply?
If your blood ammonia levels are high, it might be an indication of one of the following conditions:
A healthcare expert will wipe your baby's heel with alcohol and jab the heel with a little needle to test him or her. The provider will take a few drops of blood and apply a bandage to the wound.
High ammonia levels in babies may indicate a hereditary urea cycle disorder.
If your findings are abnormal, your doctor will need to perform more tests to determine the cause of your elevated ammonia levels. Your treatment strategy will be determined by your unique diagnosis.
If you have any concerns about your results, speak with your doctor.
Important information to know about an ammonia test?
Some doctors believe that blood from an artery may include more useful information regarding ammonia than blood from a vein. A clinician will put a syringe into an artery at your wrist, elbow crease, or groin area to get an arterial blood sample. This kind of testing is not commonly used.
