A LITTLE BACKGROUND
•
The liver is one of the most important organs in the human
body. Our largest organ, it is centrally located in the
abdomen.
• The liver is intimately involved in almost every
part of the body's processes. It has four particularly crucial
functions:
1) Fuel Management. The liver
is vital to the management of the three major fuels used
by the body: carbohydrate, fat, and protein.
2) Nitrogen Excretion. The
liver is the only organ capable of removing nitrogen from
the body. Nitrogen is a basic component of proteins, the
basic building blocks for most of the body's substances.
As a result, the regulation, synthesis, and breakdown of
protein - and thus life and health - is wholly dependent
on liver function.
3) Water balance. The liver
creates many of the components of blood - including those
that control the distribution of water between the blood,
cells, and tissues.
4) Detoxification. The body
is constantly subjected to a variety of dangerous substances,
both natural toxins (like alcohol, metals, and so forth)
and man-made toxins (like chemicals, pollutants, and pharmaceutical
agents). The liver has the unique ability to alter or break
down these toxins, protecting the rest of the body.
Ref: http://www.epidemic.org/theFacts/essentials/yourLiver.html
Notes:
Hepatocyte - a liver cell
Hypertrophy - The enlargement or overgrowth of an organ or part due
to an increase in size of its constituent cells, rather
than the number of cells. Compare to hyperplasia.
Hyperplasia - Enlargement of an organ or tissue because of an increase
in the number of cells in that organ or tissue. Compare
to hypertrophy.
Liver
enzymes - aspartate aminotransferase,
alanine amino-transferase, alkaline phosphatase
Alkaline phosphatase - Synonyms: serum alkaline phosphatase (SAP). An enzyme
produced in liver and bone. Levels may be elevated in patients
with liver and/or bone cancer or prostate cancer that has
metastasized to the liver and/or bone as well as non-malignant
conditions.. http://www.phoenix5.org/glossary/alkaline_phosphatase.html
Types of primary liver cancer
In adults, most primary liver cancers
belong to one of two types: hepatomas,
or hepatocellular carcinomas, which start in the
liver tissue itself; and cholangiomas,
or cholangiocarcinomas, which are cancers that develop
in the bile ducts inside the liver.
About 90% of primary liver cancers are hepatomas.
In the United States, about five persons in every 200,000
will develop a hepatoma; in Africa and Asia, over 40 persons
in 200,000 will develop this form of cancer. Two
rare types of primary liver cancer are mixed-cell
tumors and Kupffer cell sarcomas. There is
one type of primary liver cancer that usually occurs in
children younger than four years of age and between the
ages of 12-15. This type of childhood
liver cancer is called a hepatoblastoma.
Unlike liver cancers in adults, hepatoblastomas have a good
chance of being treated successfully. Approximately 70%
of children with hepatoblastomas experience complete cures.
If the tumor is detected early, the survival rate is over
90%.
Risk factors for primary liver cancer The exact
cause of primary liver cancer is still unknown. In adults,
however, certain factors are known to place some individuals
at higher risk of developing liver cancer. These factors
include: Male sex. The male/female
ratio for hepatoma is 4:1.
Ref: http://www.chclibrary.org/micromed/00054950.html