Functions Of The Liver In The Body – Medical Researcher Cynthia Taylor Chavusti, MPAS, PA-C – Jill Celadi-Schulman, Ph.D. and Ashley Williams – updated March 27, 2023
Liver damage usually has four stages, starting with inflammation and progressing to cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease (ESLD).
Functions Of The Liver In The Body
Liver damage can accumulate over several stages of liver disease. Each step has a cumulative effect on your liver’s ability to function properly.
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Damage from liver disease can accumulate over several stages. With each phase, the functioning of your liver suffers more and more.
At this early stage, your liver is enlarged or inflamed. Many people with liver inflammation have no symptoms. If the inflammation continues, irreversible liver damage can occur.
The scar tissue that forms at this stage replaces healthy liver tissue, but cannot perform the same functions. This can begin to affect your liver’s ability to function optimally.
In cirrhosis, severe scarring of the liver occurs, leading to the accumulation of scar tissue. Since there is not much healthy liver tissue, it becomes very difficult for your liver to function properly.
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Although there may be no symptoms in the earlier stages, you may begin to experience symptoms of liver disease.
ESLD is associated with complications such as ascites (a type of bleeding) and hepatic encephalopathy (reduced brain function). The only treatment that can reverse ESLD is a liver transplant.
Liver failure is when your liver cannot work well enough to perform its many vital functions, such as removing toxins from the blood and producing bile to digest food.
Liver failure can occur due to liver damage caused by liver disease. However, liver damage and disease do not necessarily lead to liver failure.
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Acute liver failure develops quickly and often occurs in people who have no previous liver disease. Chronic liver failure occurs due to damage to the liver that develops gradually over time.
The cause of liver failure can depend on whether the liver failure is acute or chronic. In some cases, the exact cause of acute liver failure may not be known. Chronic liver failure is associated with damage or disease to the liver.
Inflammation and fibrosis, the earliest stages of liver damage or disease, rarely cause noticeable symptoms. Symptoms are associated with later stages.
They may be present if you have conditions such as decompensated cirrhosis of the liver, chronic hepatitis C, or advanced chronic liver failure.
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Acute liver failure is always a medical emergency. If you experience symptoms consistent with acute liver failure, seek immediate medical attention.
To diagnose liver problems, your doctor will start by taking your medical history and performing a physical exam.
Acute liver failure is often treated in a hospital intensive care unit (ICU). You will receive supportive care to stabilize your condition and manage any complications during your treatment and recovery.
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If a healthcare provider suspects an overdose or a reaction, they may give you medication to limit the effects. A doctor may also recommend a liver transplant for some people with acute liver failure.
Liver Anatomy: Location, Lobes And Function
According to the American Liver Foundation advocacy group, damage caused by inflammation and fibrosis in the stages of liver failure can be reversed over time and cured if properly identified and treated early.
If you have ESLD, you may need a liver transplant. During a transplant, the surgeon removes the diseased liver and replaces it with a healthy donor liver.
You can help prevent liver damage, disease and failure by making lifestyle changes that keep your liver happy and healthy. Here are some tips to improve liver health:
If you are in the early stages of liver damage or disease, you can often recover over time with the right treatment and lifestyle changes.
Liver Disease Management
Liver failure can be a life-threatening emergency that requires immediate medical attention, whether acute or chronic.
People diagnosed with liver disease are often monitored throughout their lives to ensure that their condition does not worsen or cause further damage to the liver. If you have any concerns about liver health or liver failure, talk to your doctor.
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Health and well-being is constantly monitored by our experts and we update our articles as new information becomes available. In our body there is a factory that weighs about 1.4 kg and works 24 hours a day. This is our liver, which is the heaviest organ in our body and one of the most important.
Internal Organs And Their Functions
This factory is designed in such a way that it simultaneously functions as a warehouse, production center and processing unit. Each of these functions involves many subtasks, without which our body simply stops working and collapses.
One of the main functions of the liver factories is to filter the blood of the body, which it receives regularly from two sources:
This dual delivery fills the liver with a bundle of nutrients, which are then separated, processed and stored by thousands of tiny internal processing plants known as lobules. The blood stream provides the oxygen that the liver needs to function effectively. The blood that comes from the intestine is made up of carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and various other nutrients dissolved in it from the food we eat.
When carbohydrates are broken down in the liver, they are converted into sugar for the body to use as energy, while the filtered blood is sent back.
Functions Of Liver
Sometimes waste remains in the body, when this happens, the liver keeps them and puts them in its storage.
This facility acts as a storage facility for a future scenario where the body may need energy. But the blood that goes to the liver is not always full of healthy nutrients, it also contains toxins and by-products that the body cannot use.
When the liver sees a useless or toxic substance, it converts it into a product that cannot harm the body, or it sequesters and carries it away, sending it through the kidneys and intestines to eliminate from the body.
The liver uses cells called hepatocytes, which turn the waste products of toxins into a greenish liquid known as bile. When it is produced, it is brought to a smaller container located under the liver called the gallbladder.
The Liver Factory
Bile juice helps break down fat, kill microbes and neutralize excess stomach acid before it enters the intestines. Bile also helps remove other toxins and waste from the body.
So, as you can see, the liver is an extremely efficient industrial site, which performs many tasks that support each other. But such a complex system must be maintained smoothly and efficiently, keeping it healthy and not overloaded with toxins it can handle.
Transplantation is a treatment, not a cure. The kidney is an organ that filters waste from the blood and other fluids and removes them from the body in the form of urine….
“In March 2016, in the city of Sangali, I was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. I was completely shocked because I never expected this to happen to me and I am with this anytime soon. We met with Dr. Bipin B. Vibhute and he answered all our questions and queries with absolute patience and we understood that I needed a transplant.
Human Liver Anatomy And Function
“A broken marriage followed by self-pity made me a drunkard. Excessive alcohol consumption caused my liver to suffer. The damage was so bad that a liver transplant was the only option if I wanted to live. I am very lucky to get three chances in life. I was…” You probably know that your heart pumps blood, your brain thinks, and your lungs breathe. However, most people probably don’t know what the liver does.
Unlike more familiar organs, the liver performs many functions that extend throughout the body. In a way, it’s a jack-of-all-trades that keeps everything running smoothly in the background.
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Above you can see 5 of the many roles of the liver. It is your body’s factory, transportation system, energy storage system, and waste management system, among other functions.
What Is The Function Of Liver In Human Body
Figure 3: Glycogen: the liver as a battery. Your body stores energy from carbohydrates in the form of glycogen, almost like a battery, so you can run faster.
Because you’re not always eating, your body needs some way to store energy from the chocolate you eat so you can use it while you run.
However, your body also needs energy that can be used to get up quickly. That’s where the liver comes in.
Your liver stores energy in the form of “glycogen”, which is starch. This allows the liver to quickly supply the body with energy during exercise.
Functions Of Liver In Human Body
Figure 4: Vitamins: the role of the liver. Your liver produces bile, which your body needs to absorb fat and vitamins from food.
You have probably heard that food contains vitamins. Because of
