Save Your Liver Now!

When compared to other health conditions, it is striking how little attention is given to diseases of the liver, particularly considering the rising level of concern about health and health-related environmental issues. Hepatoprotection (or protection of the liver) is a subject that should be of intense interest because the liver plays a critical role in all aspects of metabolism and overall health.

What is the Liver?

The liver is the largest glandular organ of the body. It weighs about 3 lb (1.36 kg). It is reddish brown in color and is divided into four lobes of unequal size and shape. The liver lies on the right side of the abdominal cavity beneath the diaphragm. Blood is carried to the liver via two large vessels called the hepatic artery and the portal vein. The heptic artery carries oxygen-rich blood from the aorta (a major vessel in the heart). The portal vein carries blood containing digested food from the small intestine. These blood vessels subdivide in the liver repeatedly, terminating in very small capillaries. Each capillary leads to a lobule. Liver tissue is composed of thousands of lobules, and each lobule is made up of hepatic cells, the basic metabolic cells of the liver.

What is its major function?

The liver has many functions. Some of the functions are:

• produces and secretes bile (stored in the gallbladder), that is needed to break down and digest fatty acids, and produces blood protein and hundreds of enzymes needed for digestion and other bodily functions.
• converts glucose to glycogen and stores it until the muscles need energy (some glucose is also converted into fat and stored, the released glycogen becomes glucose in the bloodstream),
• as the liver breaks down proteins, it produces urea which it synthesizes from carbon dioxide and ammonia. (Urea is the primary solid component of urine, and it is eventually excreted by the kidneys.) Essential trace elements (minerals) such as iron and copper as well as vitamins A, D, K and B12 are also stored in the liver.
• makes certain amino acids (the building blocks of proteins)
• filters harmful substances from the blood (such as alcohol) and
• maintains a proper level or glucose in the blood. The liver is also responsible for producing cholesterol. It produces about 80% of the cholesterol in your body.

Basically, it does an extraordinary job of keeping us alive and healthy by metabolizing the food we eat, that is, breaking it down into useful parts, and by having detoxifying abilities that protect us from the damaging effects of numerous toxic compounds that we are exposed to on a daily basis. Several times each day, our entire blood supply passes through the liver. At any given time, about a pint of blood is in the liver (or 10% of the total blood volume of an adult). In addition, the liver has impressive restorative capabilities and is the only organ in the body that is capable of regenerating itself when part of it has been damaged.

Other important functions of the liver include production of prothrombin and fibrinogen (two blood-clotting factors) and heparin (a mucopolysaccharide sulfuric acid ester that helps prevent blood from clotting within the circulatory system).

Conditions leading to liver damage

• Cholestasis
• Wilson's Disease
• Autoimmune Hepatitis
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Hemochromatosis
• Steatosis, Steatohepatitis, and Cirrhosis
• Toxic Damage to the Liver

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. The liver has many functions, among them the secretion of bile, a solution critical to fat emulsion and absorption. The liver also removes excess glucose from circulation and stores it until it is needed. It converts excess amino acids into useful forms and filters drugs and poisons from the bloodstream, neutralizing them and excreting them in bile. Hepatitis affects the liver’s ability to perform these life-preserving functions.

Medications that negatively affects the liver

Medications have side effects that may harm your liver. Some of the medications that can damage your liver are: serzone, anti-cancer drugs (tagfur, MTX, and cytoxan), and medications used to treat diabetes.

Serzone is a prescription drug manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb for the treatment of depression.

The possible side effects of Serzone® are: agitation, dizziness, clumsiness or unsteadiness, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, confusion, severe nausea, gastroenteritis, abdominal pain, unusually dark urine, difficult or frequent urination, fainting, skin rash or hives yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes (jaundice) or a prolonged loss of weight or loss of appetite.

How the Liver Detoxifies?

The detoxifying function is an essential part of human body metabolism, with the liver playing a key role in the process. Toxic chemicals, of both internal and external origin, constantly bombard the liver. Even our normal everyday metabolic processes produce a wide range of toxins that are neutralized in the liver.

The liver has three main detoxification pathways:

• Filtering the blood to remove large toxins.
• Enzymatically breaking down unwanted chemicals. This usually occurs in two steps, with Phase I modifying the chemicals to make them an easier target for the Phase II enzyme systems.
• Synthesizing and secreting bile for excretion of fat-soluble toxins and cholesterol.

Filtering the blood is an essential detoxifying function of the liver. As noted earlier, our total blood supply passes through the liver several times a day and at any given time, about a pint of blood is in the liver undergoing detoxification. Blood detoxification is critical because the blood is loaded with bacteria, endotoxins, antigen-antibody complexes, and other toxic substances from the intestines. A healthy liver clears almost 100% of bacteria and toxins from the blood before the blood enters the general circulation.

The second essential detoxifying role of the liver involves a two-step enzymatic process for the neutralization of unwanted chemical compounds, such as drugs, pesticides, and enterotoxins from the intestines. Even normal body compounds such as hormones are eliminated in this way. Phase I enzymes directly neutralize some of these chemicals, but many others are converted to intermediate forms that are then processed by Phase II enzymes. These intermediate forms are often much more chemically active and therefore more toxic than the original substances. Therefore, if the Phase II detoxification system is not working properly, the intermediates linger and cause damage.

Phase I detoxification involves a group of 50-100 enzymes that has been named the cytochrome P450 system. These enzymes play a central role in the detoxification of both exogenous (beginning outside the body, such as drugs and pesticides) and endogenous (coming from inside the body, such as hormones) compounds and in the synthesis of steroid hormones and bile acids.

A side effect of this metabolic activity is the production of free radicals that are highly reactive molecules that will bind to cellular components and cause damage. The most important antioxidant for neutralizing these free radicals is glutathione, which is needed for Phase I and Phase II detoxification. When exposure to high levels of toxin produces so many free radicals from Phase I detoxification that glutathione is depleted, Phase II processes that are dependent on glutathione cease. This causes an imbalance between Phase I and Phase II activity, causing severe toxic reactions as a result of the build-up of toxic intermediate forms.

Phase II detoxification involves conjugation, meaning a protective compound becomes bound to a toxin. Besides glutathione conjugation, the other pathways are amino acid conjugation, methylation, sulfation, sulfoxidation, acetylation, and glucuronidation. These enzyme systems need nutrients and metabolic energy to function. As noted earlier, if liver cells do not function properly, Phase II detoxification slows down and increases the toxic load of toxic intermediates.

The third essential detoxifying role of the liver is synthesis and secretion of bile. The liver manufactures approximately a quart of bile every day. Bile serves as a carrier to effectively eliminate toxic substances from the body. In addition, bile emulsifies fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the intestine, improving their absorption. When the excretion of bile is inhibited (cholestasis), toxins stay in the liver longer and subject the liver to damage.

Regenerating or Survival of Liver?

The regenerating capacity of the liver is one of the most intriguing survival mechanisms of the body. The liver is an incredibly resilient organ. Up to 75% of its cells can be surgically removed or destroyed by disease before it ceases to function. As with some other organs, the liver has been designed with an excess of tissue to protect it from damage or loss of function. The healthy parts of the liver have an amazing capacity to regenerate new, healthy liver tissue to replace damaged liver tissue. We are very fortunate that the liver has a regeneration capacity because our health depends on a well-functioning liver. However, it is always too late to realize the damage of liver (until 70% damage) until it is too late to cure if not taken care properly.

reference http://www.mamashealth.com/