Facts related to liver | Fascinating Facts About Our Liver
The liver is an organ only found in vertebrates which detoxifies various metabolites, synthesizes proteins and produces biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it is located in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, below the diaphragm.
System: Digestive system
Artery: Hepatic artery
Nerve: Celiac ganglia and vagus nerve.
This reddish brown organ has two lobes, on the right and left, and it hangs out just on top of the gallbladder and next to parts of the pancreas and intestines. Your liver and these neighbouring organs work as a team to digest and absorb your food. Its main job is to filter the blood that comes from the digestive tract, before it hits the rest of your body.
The liver also detoxifies chemicals and metabolizes drugs. As it does so, the liver secretes bile that ends up back in the intestines. The liver also makes proteins important for blood plasma and other functions. With some expert support, here are 12 facts about this underappreciated, hardworking organ.
1. IT HAS A LOT OF JOBS.
The liver is a very complicated organ with a role in nearly every bodily function, according to Nancy Reau, MD, the section chief of hepatology and associate director of organ transplantation at Rush University. Some of its jobs include making and storing energy;
producing proteins vital for body function; processing drugs—prescriptions, OTCs, and “drugs of abuse”; and playing a vital role in immune function. “Although it’s hard to quantify all of the liver’s many roles, it is easy to see how sick a person becomes when the liver stops functioning,” says Reau, who is also co-chair of the American Liver Foundation’s medical advisory committee.
2. IT'S THE SECOND BIGGEST ORGAN NEXT TO SKIN.
Your liver weighs about the same as a small Chihuahua, often as much as three pounds , and is about the size of a football. It's located just beneath your rib cage on the right side of your body. If you could feel it, it would be rubbery to the touch.
3. IT HAS A DUAL IDENTITY.
Organs usually have a job specific to one region of the body. Glands are specialized types of organs that remove substances from the blood, alter or process them, then release them to other parts of the body or eliminate them. In that respect, the liver, which filters your body’s toxins (such as drugs and alcohol) and pushes them out of your body, is also a gland.
4. THE FIRST LIVER TRANSPLANT WAS NOT A GREAT SUCCESS.
Back in 1963, when Dr. Thomas E. Starzl performed the first human liver transplant at the University of Colorado Medical School, success was limited due to the wrong kinds of immunosuppressive drugs, with no patient living more than a few weeks. However, only four years later, the expansion of available immunosuppressive drugs made the first successful liver transplant possible.
5.IT'S THE ONLY ORGAN THAT CAN COMPLETELY REGENERATE.
Like Wolverine, the liver has the incredible ability to completely regrow, and it only needs as little as 25 percent of the original tissue to do so. “When a person donates more than half of their liver to someone who needs a transplant, the liver returns to its original size in nearly two weeks,
” Reau tells Mental Floss. According to a 2009 study in the Journal of Cell Physiology, evolutionary safeguards are responsible for this regenerative effect due to the numerous functions performed by the liver. “This process allows liver to recover lost mass without jeopardizing viability of the entire organism,” the authors write.
6.GOOD THING, BECAUSE YOUR BRAIN DEPENDS ON A HEALTHY LIVER.
The liver is a major regulator of plasma glucose and ammonia levels. If these get out of control they can contribute to a condition known as hepatic encephalopathy, and eventually coma. In other words, if you want your brain to function, you need a working liver.
7. LIVER CONDITIONS MAY BE SYMPTOMLESS.
Liver conditions are among those that pose a quandary for diagnosis. Because many liver conditions from hepatitis to cirrhosis may have no symptoms in the early stages. “You can even have a serious liver injury when your liver tests are all normal,” says Reau.
8.BEWARE YOUR NATURAL SUPPLEMENTS, TOO.
You may think if an herb or supplement has the word natural on the bottle that it’s safe. However, Reau cautions, “Herbs and all-natural therapy [are] processed by the liver in the same way that FDA-approved medications are processed.” It’s best to talk with your doctor if you’re uncertain. Although liver injury is uncommon for both prescribed and complementary therapies, being “all natural” does not eliminate all risk.
9. YOUR LIVER IS CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR WEIGHT …
Your body needs about one gram (.03 ounces) of liver for every kilogram (35 ounces) of your body weight in order to effectively do its job, Dr. Neil Mukherjee, a liver surgeon and fellow at Florida Hospital's Southeastern Center for Digestive Disorders & Pancreatic Cancer, tells Mental Floss.
10. NO MATTER SHAPE OR SIZE, ALL VERTEBRATES HAVE ONE.
Every vertebrate—that is, any living being that has a spinal cord—has a liver, a necessary part of survival. And, these livers all have a similar structure, performing the same essential tasks in all these bodies.
People also ask
What is special about the liver?
The Liver and Its Functions. The liver is the largest solid organ in the body. It removes toxins from the body's blood supply, maintains healthy blood sugar levels, regulates blood clotting, and performs hundreds of other vital functions. It is located beneath the rib cage in the right upper abdomen.
What is the size of liver?
By percussion, the mean liver size is 7 cm for women and 10.5 cm for men (Table 94.1). A liver span 2 to 3 cm larger or smaller than these values is considered abnormal. The liver weighs 1200 to 1400 g in the adult woman and 1400 to 1500 g in the adult man.
Do we have 2 livers?
No, the human body does not have two livers; it only has one. However, the liver has two large sections called lobes.
What is the weight of liver?
The human liver weighs approximately 1500 g and comprises ~2% of total BW, making it the largest gland in the body. It is located below the diaphragm on the right side of the abdominal cavity (Fig. 13.1C).
Can you live without a liver?
So, Can You Live Without Your Liver? No. Your liver is so vital that you cannot live without it. But it is possible to live with only part of your liver.
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