Facts About the Liver and Liver Disease

What does the research suggest?

Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash

Note: I try to cite reputable sources for the information I present in this article, so I give links. The links are underlined and in boldface. If there is a problem with any of the links, please let me know so I can fix it.

As I remember from an episode of House M.D., we need the liver to live. After all, “live” is right there in the name.

So what does the liver do? Apparently a LOT. More than 500 vital functions are associated with the liver. I’m not going to list all of them, but here are a few. The liver:

• Regulates the levels of most blood chemicals
• Excretes bile, which helps to carry away waste products
• Processes the blood that has already passed through the stomach and intestines
• Filters this blood helps to create nutrients and metabolize drugs
• Produces several different typese of protein and converts excess glucose into glycogen
• Stores iron that is used to form hemoglobin
• Regulates amino acid levels in the blood
• Converts ammonia (which is a poison) to urea
• Regulates blood clotting
• Helps the body resist infections