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The Amazing Liver
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Your Life-Line of Youth

Somewhere between 90 and 125,000 people die each year because of simple
liver disease and cirrhosis. There is no reason for this to be
happening.

This fantastic and complex organ performs the true miracle of converting
food into living energy and the elements for sustaining life. The human
system is a scientific marvel often compared to a machine, e.g. the
steadfast pump of the heart, the remarkable bio-computer brain, the
electrical system of the nerves.

So subtle and versatile is the liver that it defies a machine-like
analogy, but rather might be compared to an entire city, for the variety
of its activities.

It is one of the body's most vital organs.

The largest of the internal organs, the liver, "weighs in" at 2.5 to 5
pounds. It is suspended behind the ribs on the upper right side of the
abdomen and spans almost the entire width of the body over to the heart.


It has two separate lobes that operate independently of each other (in
case one side stops functioning). One unique feature of the liver is
that it is capable of regenerating itself after a portion is removed.

After a loss of up to 75% due to injury or surgery the remaining liver
can grow back and be restored to normal size within several months.

The liver receives blood directly from the stomach, pancreas and
intestines via the portal vein. The liver with its dazzling intricate
labyrinth of special cells, veins and ducts receive this nutrient rich
blood, and filters out the nutrients taking them into its own cells to
be processed.

The liver also receives freshly oxygenated blood via a different artery,
from which it takes its oxygen supply.

It filters out wastes and other poisons and converts them into
substances which can be safely carried out of the body. The liver
filters more than a quart of blood each minute.

The liver is the organ that is responsible for processing, converting,
distributing and maintaining the body's fuel (energy) supply.

It converts the complex energy foods we eat (carbohydrates fats, and
proteins) into simple glucose (blood sugar) or stores this fuel as
glycogen.

It breaks down and converts fats for distribution and storage.

The liver is responsible for dismantling proteins into amino acids,
assembling proteins, and making new amino acids for use throughout the
body. It breaks down old blood cells and recycles the iron.

The liver also makes bile, a yellowish-green alkaline liquid which is
stored in the gall bladder, and secreted into the small intestines to
help break down fats. Bile contains the pigments which give color to
urine and feces. When the bile ducts are obstructed it is the bile
pigments which can cause the body to turn jaundice or yellow.

Add to the list of liver functions the production of many different
hormones and proteins, which affect the way the body grows and heals.

Many vitamins and other nutrients like iron are stored in the liver and
released when needed. Poisons such as alcohol and drugs are detoxified
in the liver.

As we can see, this organ is vital for many reasons. No one has ever
devised an artificial liver because it is so complex. Second only to the
brain in complexity, the liver is the home of many of the mysteries of
life. As powerful as this organ is, it is also delicate and may fall
prey to disease.

The following paragraphs will briefly describe some of the common
diseases of the liver:

Hepatitis literally means an inflammation of the liver. It can be caused
by alcohol, viruses, drugs and blood exchange. One type of viral
hepatitis, hepatitis A (also called infectious hepatitis) is transmitted
usually through food and is more common where sanitation and hygiene are
poor. The other type, hepatitis B, is a virus spread via exchange of
blood (it is also known as serum hepatitis). Today's blood supplies are
thoroughly checked for the hepatitis B virus. There is now a more recent
type of hepatitis (hepatitis C). This type seems to involve blood
exchange or I.V. drug use. This type of hepatitis seems to be the most
troublesome of all. For many there are no symptoms for 15 to 20 years.
This type C hepatitis can turn into cirrhosis or even liver cancer. Many
people in the United States are receiving liver transplants for this
type of hepatitis. Others have found natural ways to get his type of
hepatitis under control or even cured.

Alcohol can damage the liver even in moderate quantities. Alcohol is a
concentrated sugar which causes fat to be deposited in the liver.

For those who drink only occasionally, the damage is temporary and the
liver can usually 'bounce back' to normal after several days of rest and
clean living. Those who drink more often don't give the liver a chance
to recuperate from the alcohol poisoning and more serious damage to the
live can result. In some cases alcohol abuse can lead to alcoholic
hepatitis or cirrhosis. As mentioned before, the liver is one organ
which has the amazing ability to regenerate itself.

Cirrhosis is a condition in which a liver damaged by disease, alcohol or
drugs doesn't grow back 'good as new.' In cirrhosis, the liver forms
fibrous scar tissue and lumpy irregular nodules as it regenerates.

In advanced cases the liver becomes so badly scarred by cirrhosis that
it can no longer do its work, and the afflicted person dies of liver
failure.

The liver as we know has well over 500 functions in the human body.
Below are some functions of this amazing organ:

Metabolizes proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, thus providing energy and
nutrients

Stores vitamins, minerals, and sugars

Filters the blood and helps remove harmful chemicals and bacteria

Creates bile which breaks down fats

Helps to assimilate and store fat soluble vitamins (A,E,D,K)

Stores extra blood which can be quickly released when needed

Creates serum proteins which maintain fluid balance and act as carriers

Helps maintain electrolyte and water balance

Creates immune substances such as gamma globulin

Breaks down and eliminates excess hormones

Vascular (blood management)

Provides blood clotting factors

Breaks down ammonia (and other toxins) created in the colon by bacteria;
thus preventing death

Helps to maintain blood pressure

Constructs cholesterol and estrogen, reconstructs hormones

Humanizes nutrients, metabolizes protein, carbohydrates, fat for energy

Synthesizes urea, constructs blood protein, interconverts amino acids

Constructs 50,000 systems of enzymes to govern metabolic activity
throughout the body

Removes damaged red blood cells

Converts the thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4) into it more active form
triiodothyronine (T3). Inadequate conversion may lead to hypothyroidism,
chronic fatigue, weight gain, poor memory and other debilitating
conditions.

Creates GTF (Glucose Tolerance Factor) from chromium, niacin and
possibly glutathione. GTF is needed for the hormone insulin to properly
regulate blood-sugar levels. 

Manufactures bile salts which emulsify fats and the fat-soluble vitamins
A, D, E, and K for proper absorption. The liver also removes some
fat-soluble toxins from the body.

Activates B vitamins into their biologically active coenzyme forms.

Virtually every nutrient must be biotransformed by the liver into its
proper biochemical form before the nutrient can be stored, transported
or used in cellular metabolism.

Stores various nutrients, especially A, D, B-12 and iron for release as
needed.

Manufactures carnitine from lysine and other nutrients. Carnitine is the
only known bionutrient which can escort fats into the mitochondria where
they are used to generate ATP energy. The mitochondria generate 90% of
the ATP energy at the cellular level.

Converts lactic acid from a toxic waste to an important storage fuel.
Lactic acid is produced when glucose is metabolized through the energy
production cycle. When excessive levels accumulate, you experience sore
muscles. A healthy liver will extract lactic acid from the bloodstream
and convert it into the reserve endurance fuel, glycogen.

Serves as the main glucose buffer, preventing high or low extremes of
blood sugar. The liver is the key regulator of blood sugar between meals
due to its manufacture, storage, and release of glycogen, the starch
form of glucose. When blood sugar is low, a healthy liver converts
stored glycogen into glucose, releasing it into the bloodstream to raise
blood sugar levels. When blood sugar is high, a healthy liver will
convert the excess into stored glycogen or fat.

Chief regulator of protein metabolism. The liver converts different
amino acids into each other as needed.

Produces cholesterol and converts it into the various forms needed for
blood transport.

Converts essential fatty acids such as GLA, EPA, and DHA into the
lipoprotein forms necessary to allow transport via the bloodstream to
the 50 trillion cells requiring fatty acids.

Main poison-detoxifying organ in the body. The liver must break down
every substance toxic to the body including metabolic wastes,
insecticide and pesticide residues, drugs, alcohol, etc. Failure of this
function will usually cause death in 12 to 24 hours.

Removes ammonia, a toxic by-product of animal protein metabolism, from
the body.

Breaks down hormones after they have served their function. i.e., if the
liver does not break down insulin fast enough, hypoglycemia results
because the circulating insulin continues to lower blood sugar.
The liver is vital to a host of other metabolic functions, but this
brief overview should serve to illustrate the central role the liver
plays in maintaining good health and the importance of implementing
life-style change if necessary.

Liver Disease Risk Factors
Junk foods such as french fries, doughnuts, fried chicken and snack
foods are cooked in overheated, overused, hydrogenated fats. Fried foods
are a major source of liver-toxic lipid peroxides (rancid fats) and
trans-fatty acids. Lipid peroxides are immune suppressive and damage
liver cell membranes. Trans-fatty acids suppress production of PGE1, an
important liver-protecting anti-inflammatory prostaglandin.

Alcohol. The liver converts alcohol into toxic acetaldehyde during its
alcohol detoxification process. Acetaldehyde inhibits PGE1, production,
is a powerful free radical inducer, and is largely responsible for the
liver, brain, heart, kidney, skin, and blood vessel lining damage
associated with chronic alcoholism.

Coffee. Coffee crops are sprayed with pesticides. Almost all the coffee
beans in the U.S. are imported, there is no way to determine which
pesticides were used. Carcinogenic hydrocarbons are produced during
roasting and the highest levels are found in dark roasts.

Smoking. Tobacco smoke contains toxic benzopyrene, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, cyanide, acetaldehyde, tars, etc. As the body's main
detoxifying organ, the liver must work overtime to remove this stew of
toxins.

Fuel exhaust. Auto and diesel exhaust contain dozens of liver damaging
poisons such as lead, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, acetaldehyde, cadmium,
and peroxyacetylnitrile.

Birth-control pills. There have been some cases where as little as two
to three weeks of use have been documented to severely reduce the
ability of the liver to detoxify naturally produced estrogen. The livers
of women on B vitamin/protein deficient diets may have difficulty
metabolizing estrogen to nontoxic estriol, leaving it instead in the
form of liver-toxic estradiol.

Candida. Candida yeast ferments dietary sugars into liver-toxic
acetaldehyde in the process of turning sugar into energy. Candida also
appears to increase gut and urinary levels of ammonia, another liver
toxin.

Pesticides such as PDT, Aldrin, chlordane, lindane, 2,4,5-T dioxin, and
toxaphene can cause chronic liver damage even at levels measured in
parts per billion because they tend to accumulate in body fat over a
lifetime.

Long-term drug use whether prescribed or illegal are potentially
liver-toxic. Potential liver damage is a common warning found in
prescription drug descriptions. Anabolic steroids. Liver damage is a
major side effect of chronic steroid abuse by athletes.

Acetaminophen. Tylenol, Anacin-3, Arthritis Pain Formula Aspirin Free,
Datril Liquiprin Elixir, and St. Joseph Aspirin Free Fever Reducer for
Children are just a few of the OTC (Over The Counter) products
containing acetaminophen. People should be careful not to take too many
drugs containing acetaminophen at the same time. Taking more than 15
grams can lead to irreversible liver disease. Whether smaller doses over
long periods of time (such as those recommended for relieving arthritis
symptoms) harm the liver has not been determined, but prolonged use
increases the risk of kidney damage. Additional research is needed, but
some reports indicate that fasting (i.e., you stop eating because of a
bad cold or influenza) while taking acetaminophen may contribute to
liver damage. People who consume large amounts of alcohol are at highest
risk of developing liver damage from overuse of acetaminophen.

Patient Alert: Acetaminophen was originally introduced in 1955 for
children's fever and pain relief. Please note that the 15 grams
mentioned above is for an adult;.

Read all labels completely before giving your child any medication. It's
not uncommon for infant formulas to contain higher amounts of active
ingredients than children's formulas.

Liver Weakness
Signs and Symptoms

Depression, Anger, Frustration, Lumps in neck, breast, etc., Poor
digestion
Dizziness, Eye problems, Red or flushed face, Irritability, Ringing in
the ears, Warm palms and soles
Hypertension, Migraines and other types of headaches, Dizziness,
Insomnia, Violent anger, Bitter taste in mouth
Weak tendons and ligaments, Chronic menstrual problems, Scanty
menstruation
Rigid body, Vertigo, Extreme dizziness, Severe pain, Convulsions, Spasm.
Tremors
Constipation, Sinus congestion, Allergies, Hemorrhoids, Excessive Mucus
Difficulty in breathing, Fatigue, Respiratory distress, Gas, Bloating,
Cholesterol problems, Skin problems.

Chronic degenerative diseases, Cancer, Diabetes, Arthritis, Osteoporosis

Deciphering Liver Function Tests Different cells have different enzymes
inside them, depending on the function of the cell. When cells die or
are damaged, the enzymes leak out causing the blood level of these
enzymes to rise. The most important thing to remember about liver
function tests or “LFTs” is that they do not in fact measure liver
function. They have meaning, but they generally cannot be interpreted
without clinical information. Also, the numbers do not always detect
liver disease. Some patients with severe advanced liver disease will
have nearly normal enzyme levels. An added complication in
interpretation is that the numbers are not linear, i.e., an AST (see
below) of 300 is not twice as bad as 150 (normal is 40) and a reading of
94 and 80 are essentially the same to a liver specialist.

ALT - Alanine aminotransferase used to be called SGPT (Serum Glutamate
Pyruvate Transaminase). The presence of this enzyme is more Specific for
liver disease than AST which is found in more types of cells (i.e.,
heart, intestine, muscle). The normal range is 5 - 50 IU/L.
AST which is found in more types of cells (i.e., heart, intestine,
muscle). The normal range is 5- 50 IU/L (International Units per Liter).

AST- Aspartate aminotransferase used to be called SGOT (Serum Glutamic
Oxaloaceti Transaminase). The normal range is 5-50 IU/L.

AP - Alkaline Phosphatase. This enzyme level is elevated in a number of
disorders that affect the drainage of bile - gallstone or tumor blocking
the common bile duct, alcoholic liver disease, or drug-induced
hepatitis. AP is also found in bone, placenta, and intestine 50 the GGT
is used as a supplemental test. The normal range is 30-115 IU/L.

GGT or GGTP- Gamma Glutamyl Transpeptidase. Elevated levels of this
enzyme are specific to liver disorders (GGT levels are not elevated in
diseases of bone, placenta or intestine.) The normal level is zero.
Bilirubin is the main bile pigment in humans which when elevated, causes
the yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes called jaundice. Bilirubin
is formed primarily from the breakdown of a substance in red blood cells
called “heme.” It is taken up from blood processed through the liver and
then secreted into the bile by the liver. Healthy persons have only a
small amount of bilirubin circulating in their blood - less than 1.2
mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter).

Albumin is a major protein produced by the liver. Chronic liver disease
causes a decrease in the amount of albumin produced. Serum albumin
levels of less than 3.5 mg/dL indicate advanced liver disease. The
normal range is 3-5 mg/dL.

Prothrombin Time (also called protime or PT) is a test used to assess
blood clotting. Blood clotting factors are proteins made by the liver 50
when the liver is significantly injured, the production of proteins is
impaired. There is a good correlation between abnormalities in
coagulation measured by the PT test and the degree of liver dysfunction.
PT is expressed in seconds and compared to a healthy control patients
blood.

The LFTs are used primarily to screen or monitor liver disease. If the
markers are present, your physician may order specialized tests to make
a precise diagnosis of the underlying cause of liver disease.
There are specific tests that allow the precise diagnosis of hepatitis
A, B, C and D.

Unfortunately blood testing has no real way of telling us the health of
our liver or our biological age. But we have discovered that by the time
you have reached the age of 30 your liver is probably functioning at 75%
of its ability at best.

The health and vitality of all body systems depend to a large extent on
the health and vitality of the liver. Because we are constantly
bombarded by toxins in our air, water and food, it is a good idea once
or twice a year to renew the health of a clogged and overworked liver
with a detoxification regimen.

Also if you have been using prescription drugs (antibiotics and/or
tranquilizers), for any length of time, your immune system may be
exhausted, and it's essential to rejuvenate and flush your liver to
release stored toxins.

As you learn more about your body, always remember how vital your liver
is to maintaining good health. It's not something we think about all the
time, but the common problems of an abused or toxic liver will speak to
you with many symptoms. You know your body better than anyone else..
listen to it.