Liver Let Die!

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It is an unfortunate irony that the largest and one of the most important internal organs of the human body only gets the attention and care it so deserves when it is already afflicted with an infection or damage by chronic alcoholism.

Just below your right breast, in the upper right-hand portion of your abdominal cavity, lies a virtual chemical factory regulating the levels of most of the main chemicals in your blood. The liver is a roughly cone-shaped, red-brown organ weighing between 1 to 1.5 kg in adults.

The liver has many functions vital to the body:
1. It produces important proteins for blood plasma including alburin which regulates the exchange of water between blood and tissues; complement– a group of proteins that play a part in the immune system and Coagulation factors that enable blood to clot when a blood vessel is damaged.
2.  It takes up glucose that is not required immediately by the body cells and stores it as glycogen.
3. In the blood, it regulates the level of amino acids, the building block of proteins.
4. It acts, together with the kidneys, to clear the blood of drugs and poisonous substances that would otherwise accumulate in the bloodstreams.

Booze: liver killer
The liver is remarkably resilient organ, regenerating to replace old and damaged cells (hepatocytes). Up to three-quarters of its cells can be destroyed or surgically removed before it ceases to function. However, the liver’s resilience is no match for alcohol’s toxicity. Persistent heavy alcohol consumption damages the liver. In people who continue to drink heavily, there is a high risk of progression (about 90 percent) to cirrhosis–a disease caused by chronic damage to the liver cells.

A person who consumes a daily average of 200 ml of alcohol (contained, for example, in about three-quarters of a bottle of whisky, or two-and-a half bottles of wine) has a 50 percent chance of developing cirrhosis within 20 years.

The good news is that liver damage caused by alcohol is completely reversible through abstinence and, if reversed, carries a low risk of progression to cirrhosis.

Viral attack:
Certain viruses selectively attack the liver as their primary target. Hepatitis A (sometimes called infectious hepatitis) is most commonly spread by contamination of drinking water or food by infected feces. Hepatitis B (sometimes called serum hepatitis) used to spread mainly by transfusions of blood and blood products. This risk has now been removed by the development of modern screening tests. Today, Hepatitis B is mainly transmitted sexually or by the accidental inoculation of contaminated blood (e.g. by need sharing among drug users or by tattooing or acupuncture performed with unsterile needles). Hepatitis B is more serious than Hepatitis A.

Infection with any of these viruses may be without symptom, or it may cause a typical acuter hepatitis ailment with a flu-like illness followed by jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes). Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, tenderness in the right upper abdomen, aching muscles and sometimes joint pain.

There is no specific treatment for any type of viral hepatitis. However, bed rest, a nourishing diet, and abstinence from alcohol may speed up recovery. Prevention is your best bet. To prevent hepatitis b, avoid the risky behavior  mentioned above.  Avoidance of hepatitis A is further helped by observing good hygiene, especially with respect to food intake and preparation, Vaccines against hepatitis B are currently available while those against hepatitis A are still being studies.

The liver and the Big C
Cancer of the liver is the most common form of cancer worldwide. This malignant tumor in the liver may have originated within the liver itself. Or may have spread from somewhere.
The most common symptoms of a liver cancer are:

• Weight loss.

• Loss of appetite

• Lethargy

• Pain in the upper right abdomen

• Jaundice

• Ascites or fluid in the abdomen

Other liver diseases:

• Gallstones – form in the gallbladder when cholesterol or pigments crystallize out of the bile.

• Hemochromatosis- is a hereditary disease  I which the body absorbs too much iron in the diet, resulting in the accumulation of iron in the liver and other organs.

• Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) – is a liver disease that affects mostly women, but can also occur in men, It appears to arise as a result of the body’s immune system attacking the  small bile ducts in the liver,

• Liver diseases in children- from infants to adolescents can develop liver disease and many die from it. The more common type of liver diseases that affect children are: chronic active hepatitis, biliary atresia, galactosemia, Wilson disease, and Reye’s syndrome.

Symptoms and signs of liver diseases

• A yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes

• The appearance of very dark urine or passage of pale, bloody or tar-like stools

• Abdominal swelling

• Prolonged itching of the skin

• Chronic fatigue

• Nausea or loss of appetite

• Vomiting of blood

• Severe prolonged abdominal pain.