Liver health
MEET YOUR LIVER
Your liver is...
Your body's largest internal organ. It is about the size of an American football and usually weighs about ≈1.5 kg
Located just behind your rib cage on the right side of the body, under the lungs
Comprised of four lobes, which are made up of eight sections and thousands of lobules (small lobes)
Responsible for performing more than 500 bodily functions, including infection resistance & blood clotting regulation
Intricately connected to your brain, a healthy liver can help the brain continue to function by preventing toxins from building up in the blood
Capable of regenerating itself with just 25% of healthy liver tissue, making transplantation possible
Responsibilities of the liver
Your liver...
- Produces bile which breaks down fats to be digested by the body and carries away the waste the body doesn’t need
- Cleanses blood by filtering away toxic substances such as alcohol, drugs, medications, and pollutants
- Resists infections by creating immune factors and removes them from the bloodstream
Your liver...
- Stores vitamins, fat, sugars, and minerals and distributes them around the body when they are needed.
- Stores excess energy (glucose) until the body needs it.
- Creates proteins involved in the transportation of essential substances in the bloodstream.
- Regulates hormonal balance such as sex hormones, thyroid hormones, and adrenal hormones.
IF YOU DON’T TAKE CARE OF YOUR LIVER,
IT DOESN’T TAKE CARE OF YOU
Did you know?
There are over 100 different liver diseases which can affect anyone regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background.
The most common cause of prevalent chronic liver disease is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), accounting for 59% of cases.
HBV (Hepatitis B) and HCV (Hepatitis C) account for the majority of chronic liver disease related deaths globally.
Risk Factors for Chronic Liver Disease:
- Alcohol consumption
- Excess consumption of fatty, sugary, and salty foods
- Sedentary living habits
- Misuse of medications
- Unsafe sex practices
- Injection-based drug use
Remaining unvaccinated
Family history of liver disease
Metabolic disorders & overactive immune system
Keeping the liver healthy
Learn more:
- EASL-Lancet Commission
- Canadian Liver Foundation. (2023). Available at: https://www.liver.ca/ (Accessed: 27 March 2023)
- Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Liver: Anatomy and Functions. Available at: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/liver-anatomy-and-functions (Accessed: 27 March 2023)
- The Hepatitis C Trust. (n.d.). Functions of the Liver. Available at: http://hepctrust.org.uk/information/liver/functions-liver (Accessed: 27 March 2023)
- National Health Portal India. (n.d.). World Liver Day. Available at: https://www.nhp.gov.in/world-liver-day_pg (Accessed: 27 March 2023)
- American Society of Clinical Oncology. (n.d.). Liver Cancer: Statistics. Available at: https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/liver-cancer/statistics (Accessed: 27 March 2023)
- Coalition to Eradicate Viral Hepatitis in Asia Pacific. (n.d.). Fast Facts. Available at: https://www.cevhap.org/index.php/about-viral-hepatitis/fast-facts (Accessed: 27 March 2023)
- Alcorn, K. (2019) Only 11 countries on target to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030. Available at: http://www.infohep.org/Only-11-countries-on-target-to-eliminate-hepatitis-C-by-2030/page/3550961/ (Accessed: 27 March 2023)
- EASL Policy Statements: EASL Policy Statements. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://easl.eu/publications/easl-policy-statements/
- World NTD Day Website: World NTD Day Website: https://worldntdday.org/
- NAFLD/NASH Patient Guidelines: EASL. (2019). EASL NAFLD/NASH Patient Guidelines Short Version. Retrieved from https://easl.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/EASL-NAFLD-NASH-Patient-Guidelines-Short-version-English.pdf
- The Liver and its Functions. Columbia Surgery. Retrieved from https://columbiasurgery.org/liver/liver-and-its-functions
- Marcellin, P. and Kutala, B. K. (2017) Liver diseases: A major, neglected global public health problem requiring urgent actions and large-scale screening. Wiley Liver International.
- Ferenci, P. (2017) Hepatic encephalopathy. Gastroenterol Rep (Oxf), 5(2), pp.138-147.
- Kumar, G., Taneja, A., and Kandiah, P. A. (2017) Brain and the Liver: Cerebral Edema, Hepatic Encephalopathy and Beyond. Hepatic Critical Care, pp. 83-103.
- Cheemerla, S. and Balakrishnan, M. (2021) Global Epidemiology of Chronic Liver Disease. Clinical Liver Disease, 17(5), pp. 365-370.
Resources
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