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There's no rest for the liver

By TOM VALEO
Published March 15, 2005

If your liver suddenly stopped working, you would be dead within 24 hours. Your liver stores glucose, which your body needs for quick fuel. It also stores vitamins, iron and other essential nutrients. It breaks down worn-out blood cells and manufactures important proteins. It produces the bile that helps your body digest fat. It detoxifies alcohol, drugs and other substances that could harm your body. It even helps kill germs in the intestines.

Since the liver handles just about everything that passes through the body, it is vulnerable to damage from an array of sources. It can be damaged by chemicals, bacteria and viruses. People who drink a lot of alcohol can scar their liver, a process known as cirrhosis. (Cirrhosis can also be caused by other factors besides alcohol consumption.)

Here are other factors that affect the liver:

Chronically high triglycerides, common in obese people, lead to a destructive condition known as a fatty liver. The condition is caused by the liver's attempt to remove excess fats from the bloodstream.

Obese people tend to produce a lot of insulin to handle the sugar in their bloodstream. Excess insulin itself can damage the liver, but insulin also promotes the development of a fatty liver.

-- Blood flow to the liver may decrease by more than one-third between the ages of 40 and 65. As a result, the liver breaks down drugs and alcohol more slowly, so toxic substances remain in the blood longer. Older people are particularly vulnerable to drug overdoses because their liver metabolizes drugs more slowly, so they stay in the bloodstream longer.

-- Acetaminophen, an ingredient in over-the-counter pain relievers such as Tylenol, can scar the liver, especially when combined with alcohol and cigarette smoke. Even a couple of drinks combined with four extra-strength acetaminophen tablets may cause liver damage.

-- Aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen, also have the potential for damaging the liver, especially in large doses.

-- Anabolic steroids, which some weightlifters take to help them build muscle mass, damage the liver, especially if taken in pill form.

-- Hepatitis, or severe inflammation of the liver, can be caused by chemicals, parasites, bacteria and the viruses that cause hepatitis A, B and C.

-- People with hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder, absorb too much iron from their food. The excess iron gradually destroys the liver. A person with the disease can reduce its effect on the liver by giving blood frequently, thereby reducing the load of iron reaching the liver.

-- People with Wilson's disease retain too much copper in their liver. When the liver can handle no more, it releases the copper into the bloodstream, where it damages the kidneys, brain, eyes and other organs.

-- Despite its sensitivity to toxic substances, the liver can be remarkably resilient. In some persons, the liver may regenerate following surgery or toxic injury.

[Last modified March 14, 2005, 16:42:03]