Medical Questions » Liver and Gall Bladder Questions » Question No. 579
| Question: | What does the liver actually do? I can' t work this out, but unlike the gall bladder, it seems to be essential to the body. |
| Answer: | The liver is the largest gland and internal organ in the body. Wedge-shaped, it lies behind the lower few ribs on the right side. It weighs about 1.5 kg and has die same reddish brown colour as the animal livers we are familiar with in the butcher shop. When food has been digested it still has to be absorbed into the body. The liver plays an integral part in this process.
The liver is a mass of complex tissue containing millions of cells and blood vessels. Among its functions, it regulates the amount of blood sugar, assists in producing the blood-clotting mechanisms, helps to nourish new blood cells, destroys old blood cells, breaks down excess acids to be eliminated as urine, stores and modifies fats so they can be more efficiently utilised by cells all over the body, stores certain vitamins and minerals, and removes poisons from harmful substances such as alcohol and drugs. The liver is also an important source of the heat which is essential to maintain the body' s temperature.
The liver manufactures bile, which mixes with the digestive juices in the duodenum. Bile is a thick, yellowy-green liquid containing salts that breaks down fat into small dtoplets so that it can more easily be digested.
Another of the functions of the liver is to remove a yellow pigment called bilirubin, produced by the destruction of old red blood cells, from the blood. If the liver becomes diseased and cannot function properly, this yellow pigment stays in the bloodstream and gives a yellowish tinge to the skin and whites of the eyes—the jaundice that is such a striking symptom of the liver disease, hepatitis.
The chemical processing capabilities of the liver are very complex. Substances which enter as one thing frequently leave as something else, depending on the body' s needs. For example, most amino acids are converted into proteins, but if the body is short of glucose, the liver will combine some of the amino acids with fat to make extra sugar. Similarly, if the level of blood sugar is too high, glucose is converted into a substance that can be stored.
The liver also stores vitamins. If more vitamins are consumed than the body needs, some will be stored to be released if needed later. A person may survive as long as 12 months without raking in any vitamin A, and for up to four months without new supplies of vitamins B12 and D.
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