Addressing the gathering, Dr. Prashantha S. Rao said, healthy liver is essential to lead a healthy life. He said, liver is a vial organ located below the diaphragm in the right upper abdomen. The terminology related to the liver often starts in hepar- or hepat- derived from the Greek word for liver – hepar. It is the largest internal organ and the largest gland in the human body. The liver is necessary for survival and there is currently no way to compensate for the absence of liver function in the long term.
This gland plays a major role in metabolism and has a wide range of functions in the body, including glycogen storage, protein synthesis, detoxification and production of substances necessary for digestion and absorption of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Diseases that interfere with liver function will lead to derangement of these processes. However, the liver has a great capacity to regenerate and has a large reserve capacity. The liver is the only human internal organ capable of natural regeneration of lost tissue; as little as 25% of a liver can regenerate into a whole liver. In most cases, the liver produces symptoms only after extensive damage of approximately above 80%.
Liver Disease: The common diseases of the liver include infections such as hepatitis A, B, C, D and E; alcohol related liver damage, fatty liver, cirrhosis, cancer and drug induced damage. Diseases of the liver commonly result in jaundice caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the blood.
Infections: Hepatitis is a medical condition caused by the inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis is most commonly caused by viruses namely, hepatitis A, B, C, D & E. Hepatitis A & E are spread by contaminated food and water whereas, hepatitis B & C are spread via contaminated blood products, unprotected sexual contact and from an infected mother to the newborn child during child birth.
Fatty liver: Fatty liver is a reversible condition wherein fat accumulates within the liver cells. The causes for fatty liver are alcohol, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and dyslipidemia. Poor dietary habits and increasingly sedentary lifestyle have resulted in an increasing incidence of fatty liver. This spectrum of disorders also called Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) or Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) can lead to cirrhosis & end stage liver disease if ignored and are emerging as important indications for liver transplantation in western countries. Co-existing alcohol and viral hepatitis result in early & more severe liver dysfunction. When detected early, correcting the causative factors can result in resolution of the condition.
Alcohol and the liver: There has been an increase in the amount of alcohol consumed by an average Indian by 50% from 2002 to 2006. The reasons cited for the same include pressure for social acceptability, increasing affordability, stress of modern life and desire to be part of the “happening” crowd. This has been accompanied by an increase in the number of alcohol related deaths. The important steps to get better are abstinence from alcohol and providing adequate nutrition. Patients with mild to moderate disease usually survive this stage as long as they abstain from alcohol consumption. However patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis require medical management and those with cirrhosis & liver failure require liver transplantation.
