Recently, I learned of a young man who had overdosed on some drugs and alcohol. He was 19 years old and suffered from hepatotoxicity, or liver damage from drug overdosing. After four years of consistent damage, his liver finally gave out, putting him in a dangerous situation. He has put on experimental liver dialysis, but it is only a temporary solution. He will need to get a new liver soon or die.
I didn’t understand why his liver failed. Isn’t the kidney responsible for filtering blood, and not the liver? Why was his liver even exposed to the chemicals from the alcohol and drugs the man took in? Even more so, I knew that the liver is the only organ in the body able to “regenerate” itself — why didn’t it help him now?
The liver is considered the largest organ in your body, and is thought to have up to five hundred different functions in conjunction with many of the other organs that help keep your body running optimally. It’s most important function is the filtration of the blood coming from the digestive tract. Part of the filtration process is the detoxification and metabolism of many harmful chemicals and drugs. Unfortunately, filtration does not simply require the processing of these chemicals. They must also temporarily be stored within the folds of the liver to enable filtration to occur. This can be particularly harmful, as a buildup of these chemicals will most assuredly kill the liver.
The liver also produces bile, which carries away and breaks down fat buildup in the small intestine, as well as certain proteins for the blood plasma, and cholesterol and special proteins to help carry fats through the body. The liver also converts excess glucose into glycogen, and poisonous ammonia into urea. It regulates the blood levels of amino acids and blood clotting. It processes hemoglobin, from which it draws and stores iron, clears many drugs and other harmful substances from blood, and helps the immune system fight infections by producing immune factors and removing bacteria from the blood stream. These are only a few of many other important functions.
The liver has a high capacity for regeneration, but it still requires at least 25% of the tissue still alive. Pass this limit, and the possibility of regeneration is gone.
The liver is a wonderfully powerful organ capable of multi-tasking to the fullest extent of the definition of multi-tasking. We shouldn’t even have to think twice about putting it in danger. So please, if you know someone with a bad drinking habit or long-term drug use, don’t hesitate to point out the facts to them. You may end up saving their future, and even more importantly, their life.
