Health & Liver Function

The liver is one of the most vital organs in the body. It has a myriad of functions and without it death is inevitable. There are many reasons for liver dysfunction and many signs of a dysfunctional liver. When the liver fails to do its job the entire body suffers in a variety of ways. Liver failure is the worst case scenario and is a condition that requires immediate intervention.

Liver Function

• The liver is the body's detoxifier. It metabolizes and secretes drugs, alcohol, and environmental toxins in the body. It also makes proteins, including albumin (to help maintain the volume of blood) and blood clotting factors. It synthesizes, stores, and processes fats, including fatty acids and cholesterol. The liver metabolizes and stores carbohydrates, which are used as the source for the sugar in blood that is used by red blood cells and the brain. It eliminates the potentially harmful biochemical products made in the body, such as bilirubin from the breakdown of old red blood cells and ammonia from the breakdown of proteins.

Alcoholic Liver Disease

• Alcoholic liver disease is loss of liver function due to use or abuse of alcohol. The mildest form of alcoholic liver disease is known as fatty liver. Fatty liver can happen after just a few days of heavy drinking. In a fatty liver, which can also be caused by eating fatty food, there are often no symptoms. The liver simply takes on a greasy and yellowish appearance as opposed to the normal pinkish-brown color of the liver. Fatty liver is 100% reversible if the underlying cause is addressed.
  If there are symptoms they typically manifest as a general feeling of fatigue, bloating, and a change in bowel movements.

Hepatitis

• Hepatitis literally means inflammation of the liver. This is the second phase of alcoholic liver disease and often is the first sign anything is wrong with the liver. This is caused by excessive or binge drinking and can again range from mild symptoms, to more severe problems including a swollen belly, jaundice, loss of appetite, and in the worst cases mental disorders called hepatic encaphalopathy which causes great confusion.

  Alcoholic hepatitis is usually treated with simple avoidance of alcohol and is usually reversible, though it is believed that hepatitis is a precursor to cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis

• There are two forms of cirrhosis, one is called compensated and the other is decompensated. In compensated cirrhosis a patient can live for years with proper nutrition and medical care. Decompensated cirrhosis can be brought back to compensated cirrhosis but has a much higher mortality rate. Those with compensated cirrhosis who avoid alcohol can live normal lives for years eating special diets of proportional intake of protein, raw foods, fruits and vegetables and avoiding toxins.

  An exception to the above is Gilbert's Disease which also leads to liver dysfunction with all the same manifestations of alcoholic or other liver disease as well a cirrhosis. Decompensated cirrhosis almost always requires a liver transplant for survival.

Acetaminophen and other drugs

• The most acute form of liver injury can occur when people eat mushrooms that are poison to the liver or take large amounts of acetaminophen or paracetamol. An overdose of this medication can cause instantaneous damage to the liver resulting in severe scar tissue and death within 72 hours if not treated with a medication called N-acetylcysteine. This is given intravenously in the hospital.