What does your liver do?

Question

My bestfriend's step father is almost dying in the hospital because he needs a new liver. They said because he drank too much all his life. He is only 58. What does your liver actually do for your body that you can't live without it?

Answer 1

Your liver keeps your blood clean of waste, promotes blood clotting, produces bile to help us break down food and absord nutrients. Our liver is essential to our survival.

Answer 2

The liver has over 500 functions that it does to keep the body healthy.
This will give you some idea of how important it is:
(1) The medications are processed and broken down in the liver before they go out to the rest of the body.
(2) It removes toxins from our body and changes substances that can become toxins into a soluble form so they can be removed easier by the body.
(3) It makes important proteins that carry things throughout our body so it functions better.
(4) It makes clotting factors to help our blood to clot so we don't bleed easily.
(5) It stores vitamins that the body needs on a regular basis
(6) It makes bile which flows to the intestines to help in the digestion (breakdown) of fats we eat
(7) It has many metabolic processes in which it will change things into a glucose form so the body can use it for energy.
These are just some of the things that it does.

"This is what alcohol can do to the liver":
(1) It disrupts the body's metabolism, which will impair other organs functions, eventually.
(2) Alcohol is like any other drugs that is broken down by the liver...When it becomes that it is overloaded with it...it cannot process it as well. When it is processed , the product that results is acetaldehyde which can be more toxic than alcohol itself and cause damage to the liver cells.
(3) free radicals are released and can damage the liver cells also and cause inflammation which will remain for a longer period of time than normal, which impairs the function of the liver.
(4) when inflammation occurs, the liver starts to enlarge from swelling. This can be treated with medication and the stopping of alcohol will also help. However, if the inflammation is not taken care of and the person continues to drink...it can cause the death of the liver cells. This causes scar tissue to form inside the liver which blocks the flow of blood to other cells that are left and they die also.
(5) the doctors are limited in medications they can use to reduce the inflammation because alcohol interacts with and can make drugs toxic if taken with it...causing immediate damage to the cells.

Alcohol is the number one cause of damage to the liver. If he will stop drinking now before it damages the cells to the point that they die...he will have a much better chance of recovery. This is difficult to do since trying to overcome alcohol addiction can make a person feel like they are going to lose their life anyhow and one more drink will stop these symptoms. Doctors have medication to help with symptoms, such as hallucinations, shaking uncontrollably, etc so that the patient can cope better. The best thing is a detox program at a hospital.

Since you said he needs a new liver, that tells me that he has cirrhosis (death of the liver cells) because of this.
You can read about it here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cirrhosis/DS00373

I hope this is of some help to help you understand better what is going on.

Answer 3

How important is the liver~!

Our liver's main function is to get rid of the toxins in our body.
Your bestfriend's stepfather needs a new liver because of all the excessive alcohol that he has been drinking which led to a large amt of toxins piled up in the liver and unable to be gotten rid of,hence leading to liver failure and the need for a new liver.

Answer 4

is one of the biggest (blood) filters in your body

also acts as a storage place for glucose
so when you are 'running low' and your body needs energy
it rings the liver's doorbell and DUMP - here comes the sugar

so sorry

Answer 5

A large,reddish-brown,glandular vertebrate organ located in the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity that secretes bile & is active in the formation of certain blood protien,in the metabolism of carbohydrates,fats & proteins.

Answer 6

It filters out the impurities in your body and takes them to your urinary tract.

That's one reason why I won't eat liver....it's like eating an oil filter in your car...

Sorry to hear about your friend's father.

Answer 7

Filters the alcohol out of your system, too much can ruin it.

Answer 8

I think it is like the filter of some type. Lungs for air....