THE LIVER

THE LIVeR'S APPEARANCE

• The liver is the size of an American football, and weighs roughly 3.1 lbs.
• The liver is a single organ, without specific "parts".
• It is separate from the rest of the digestive system, along with the gall bladder, salivary glands, tongue, and the pancreas.

THE LIVER'S FUNCTION

• The liver purifies the blood by rearranging the amino acids in toxins to make them harmless.
• The liver secretes bile, which breaks down fats and helps in absorbing fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K).
• The liver balances blood sugar by taking the sugar and transit ring it into glycogen by using insulin.

THE LIVER TISSUE

• The liver is comprised mainly of two tissues.
• The first is sinsusoidal tissue, found mostly in blood vessels.
• The second is an exclusive "liver tissue", known as Kupffer tissue.

LIVER DISEASE

• Jaundice: Caused by a build up of bile in the body, causing yellowing in the eyes, skin, and urine. Generally a result of hepatitis (liver inflammation).
• Cirrhosis: Scarring of the liver, caused by traumatic injury, viral infection, and heavy drug/alcohol use. It destroys healthy liver tissue.
• Diabetes: An inability for the liver to produce insulin, forcing all ingested sugars to be burnt immediately. Usually causes weight problems.

FUN FACTS

• The liver is the only organ to be able to regenerate itself completely with minimal scarring generally.
• If the liver cannot purify a toxin, it will quarantine the toxin within itself to keep it from spreading.
• The telltale yellow pigmentation caused by jaundice is caused by the yellow pigments in the bile the liver secretes.