It's nice having you here again to read my post.
The nasty experienced I had in my last post prompted me to further my investigation on another disease causes by multicellular organisms, The liver is another factor that affects the internal environment, as long as it does not function as expected in the body system which can lead to the damage or not regulate the system.
Arose is the question, What can lead to this deadly disease (Liver), This disease, is it curable or not? To get answers to my questions, I decided to make some finding. After my findings, I got reasonable solutions to my questions and I decided to share it with you through this post.
Hope you find this post interesting
The liver is a large reddish-brown organ with two lobes. It lies just below the diaphragm to the right side, partly overlapping the stomach. Leading from the liver to the small intestine is the bile duct, to which the gallbladder is attached. It is a soft organ with a rich and extensive blood supply.
FUNCTION OF THE LIVER
Metabolically, the liver is a complex organ with many functions including homeostasis. It is the liver that screens the food-laden blood from the small intestine and adjusts its composition to suit the body's immediate needs before releasing it into the circulatory system.
Carbohydrate Metabolism (glucose levels in the blood).
The normal blood glucose level is 90mg/100cm3 blood. If this level falls below 40mg/100cm3 blood, the brain cells become affected, leading to coma. If the level rises above 160mg/100cm3 blood, then the kidneys excrete the excess. The liver controls the blood glucose level and keeps it within normal limits by the following homeostatic process.
The liver converts any excess glucose in the blood that reaches it after a meal to glycogen. This process is stimulated by the hormone insulin which is secreted by the pancreas, and the glycogen is stored in the liver. When blood glucose level falls below normal, the liver converts glycogen into glucose and releases the required amount of glucose into the blood.
This process is stimulated by glucagon, another pancreatic hormone, If the glycogen level in the liver is depleted, the low glucose level in blood is detected by the hypothalamus which stimulates the production of the various hormone. These cause the liver to convert amino acids and glycerol into glucose.
Protein Metabolism
The liver only releases the required amount of amino acids into the general circulation. As excess amino acids cannot be stored, the liver breaks them down into nitrogen-containing amino parts which it then converts to urea for excretion by the kidneys; and carbon compounds (keto acids) which it converts into glucose, glycogen or fats. This process is known as deamination.
The liver also converts one non-essential amino acid into another according to the body's needs. It cannot synthesize essential amino acids in this way, and so they must be present in the diet in the amounts needed by the body. The liver manufactures plasma proteins from dietary amino acids, these proteins include albumins, globulins and those essential for clotting like fibrinogen.
Lipid Metabolism
The liver breaks down lipids to produce glucose and other substances if needed by the body. It then modifies what remains for transport to fat storage areas in the body and the liver also converts excess glucose (after its glycogen-storing capacity is exceeded) to fats for storage. Production of heat by liver has numerous metabolic activities produce heat as a by-product and these distributed throughout the body by the blood circulation and helps to keep the body warm.
Storage of Vitamins and Minerals*
The liver store the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K, as well as the water-soluble vitamins, B, and C. It also stores iron and other minerals like zinc, copper, and potassium. The storage of blood which full of blood vessels can store up to 1500cm3 of blood. When its blood vessels are constricted more blood enters the general body circulation. The reverse occurs when its vessels are dilated. Thus, the liver regulates the volume of blood in general circulation.
Bile Production
The liver makes bile which is stored in the gallbladder and secreted into the duodenum when needed. The bile which is 98% water contains bile salts which aid in fat digestion and a yellowish pigment, bilirubin, an excretory product formed during the break down of haemoglobin from worn out red blood cells; inorganic salts; and cholesterol.
Diseases of the Liver and Bile Ducts
The important diseases of liver and bile ducts include gall-stones, viral hepatitis, cirrhosis, and amoebic liver abscess. Jaundice is a condition that may be due to liver disease or some other cause. Then, the **Jaundice is caused by an increase in the blood bilirubin level and this gives a yellow coloration to the skin and whites of the eyes. Jaundice may be due to three main causes.
a. Excessive breakdown of red blood cells: This causes the formation of large amounts of bilirubin and such excessive destruction of red blood cells may occur during a malarial bout, in newborn babies and in inherited defects of the red blood cells (e.g sickle-0cell anaemia), certain poisons too can cause excessive breakdown of red blood cells. In this type of jaundice, the stools are dark due to the excretion of large amounts of bilirubin via the bile.
b. Diseases of the liver: These damage liver cells so that their ability to extract bilirubin from the blood to form bile is reduced. The blood bilirubin level is raised and inadequate bile production results in pale stools containing the undigested fatty substance.
Effects of Diseases of the Liver
The effects of liver diseases are due to the failure of liver cells to function properly. The most common symptoms and signs are as follow; weakness and tiredness, jaundice, slight fever, the tendency to bleed and bruise easily, edema, enlarged and tender liver in hepatitis and amoebic liver abscess, mental changes such as apathy in most liver disease.
NOTE: Blood levels of many enzymes are high. This is because these enzymes leak out of the damaged liver cells and get into the bloodstream and thus, liver function is easily assessed by estimating the levels of these enzymes, as well as, those of bilirubin and cholesterol.
Treatment of Liver Diseases
The liver has a high capacity to separate and get new cells, that is, to regenerate. It is, therefore, the liver will be able to replace damaged cells and function normally. In most cases of liver diseases, treatment aims at giving the liver a rest and allowing it to heal itself. Thus, the basic treatment procedures include; rest, preferably in bed, until jaundice subsides, and a long convalescence period.
A nutritious but controlled low-fat diet; and the liver is a complex organ with many functions including homeostasis. It is the liver that screens the food-laden blood from the small intestine and adjusts its composition to suit the body's immediate needs before releasing it into the circulatory system.
. Thus, in (a) amoebic liver abscess, the pus is drained from the abscess and anti-amoebic drugs are given to get rid of the parasitic infection completely; and bile duct obstruction, the obstruction is removed. Liver transplant offers hope for patients with progressive liver cirrhosis and cancer of the liver. The problems encounter ed is the same as in kidney transplant.
NOTE: A living person can donate a lobe of his/her liver for transplant. The remaining liver can soon regenerate and attain its normal size
CONCLUSION
The liver is a deadly disease which affects small intestine, It lies just below the diaphragm to the right side, partly overlapping the stomach. Leading from the liver to the small intestine is the bile duct, to which the gallbladder is attached. It is a soft organ with a rich and extensive blood supply.
The liver is a complex organ with many functions including homeostasis. It is the liver that screens the food-laden blood from the small intestine and adjusts its composition to suit the body's immediate needs before releasing it into the circulatory system. In most cases of liver diseases, treatment aims at giving the liver a rest and allowing it to heal itself. Thus, the basic treatment procedures include; rest, preferably in bed, until jaundice subsides, and a long convalescence period.
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