Information about the best organ in the body (in our view!)

 

The liver is fab for so many reasons - we've listed below some key facts which proves why:

 

• You only have one liver, it's important to look after it

• The liver is the largest organ inside your body and does hundreds of essential jobs, from providing you with the energy to get up in the morning to fighting infection and disease

• Your liver works hard and can take a lot of abuse, but it is like an elastic band and it can only stretch so far before it breaks.

• The liver has no nerve endings meaning that damage can silently occur showing no signs until it is too late.

• Liver conditions and liver disease are on the increase in the UK; It is now the fifth largest cause of death and affecting the health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands more

• At any one time the liver can hold a third of all the blood in your body

• The adult liver is bigger than your brain and weighs between 1.3kg and 1.8kg 

• The liver can regenerate itself in to a full liver again even if there's only 25% of it left working

• The liver undertakes over 500 different functions to keep your body moving and working well, the main functions are:

  • Making and storing the fuel/energy you need to get through the day

  • Cleaning and filtering your blood

  • Producing bile which aids your digestion

  • Breaking down proteins into amino acids

  • Storing vitamins and minerals - A, D, K and B12, and iron

  • Producing cholesterol: about 80% of the cholesterol in your body is made by the liver from other fats that you eat. Cholesterol is a fat that your body needs for normal growth and health however too much can be bad news for the rest of your body

  • Breaking down the ingredients in medicines, eg painkillers so that your body can quickly use them to make you feel better

  • Helping with blood clotting so that when you cut yourself you don't bleed very long before the blood clots and stops the bleeding.

• The liver has two large lobes - a large right lobe and a smaller left lobe

• There are over 100 types of conditions and diseases that directly affect the liver - these include lifestyle related factors as well as hereditary, genetic and autoimmune conditions

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Check out our page dedicated to the most up-to-date stats! 

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We have recently partnered with My Liver Exam to discuss various topics on liver disease and conditions. You can read our articles here.