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Health and Wellness: A Healthy Liver For Yourself
Increasingly, women are being affected by liver disease — and it's not just alcohol-related.
by Marty Sellars, M.D., and Mark Johnson, M.D.
May 30, 2008
Y
ou should take great care to love your liver because it is loyal. In fact, it’s so
loyal it’s like a love-struck boyfriend who brings you flowers all the time. You keep treating it
badly, but it still hangs around.
The liver is critical to a person's well-being. You feed your liver all the wrong
foods and give it toxins, and yet it continues to bounce back. So what exactly does your
liver do for you? The liver processes all food and (most) drugs we eat, it stores iron reserves as
well as vitamins and minerals and helps digest food. It also detoxifies poisonous chemicals,
including alcohol and drugs; stores energy by stockpiling sugar until needed; manufactures new
proteins; and makes clotting factors to help blood clot. Lastly, it removes poisons from the
air, exhaust, smoke, and chemicals we breathe. Everything we eat must pass through the liver, so we
should pay special attention to it.
The liver actually receives 30 percent of the blood flow, which tells you how important it
is to the body. The liver has a somewhat rare ability to repair or regenerate itself when it is
injured or partially resected. However, repeated injury such as chronic alcohol abuse or chronic
active hepatitis B or C eventually leads to cirrhosis, the permanent scarring of the liver.
One in 10 Americans is affected by liver disease. It is well-known that alcohol
directly affects the liver and results in permanent scar tissue. Although men are more likely to
drink alcohol and to drink it in larger amounts, gender differences in body structure and chemistry
cause women to absorb more alcohol and to take longer to break it down and remove it, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Consequently, women have higher alcohol levels in
their blood than men, and the immediate effects occur more quickly and last longer. These
differences also make women more vulnerable to alcohol’s long-term effects on their health.
For those who think that liver disease is solely alcohol-related, think again. The rise of
obesity has resulted in a rise in fatty liver disease, which is the buildup of excess fat in the
liver cells. It is normal for a person’s liver to contain some fat; but if that fat accounts for
more than 5-10 percent of the liver’s weight, then fatty liver disease is present and serious
complications may develop, according to the American Liver Foundation.
One of the fastest growing reasons for a liver transplant is having a fatty liver.
Excess fat in the liver often leads over time to the organ becoming inflamed and ultimately scarred
and hardened, which often leads to liver failure. Unfortunately, fatty liver produces little or no
symptoms of its own. It can be inflamed for years, even decades, before it begins to cause
symptoms. In fact, people often learn they have the disease when they have medical tests for
unrelated issues.
Liver disease can also be caused by chronic hepatitis. More than 5 million
Americans have hepatitis B or C, resulting in an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 deaths annually. Yet
because they have few, if any, symptoms, many people do not know they are infected until serious
liver damage occurs. More than 27,000 Americans die each year from chronic liver diseases and
cirrhosis.
A liver transplant is needed when the liver fails, usually because of long-term
disease. Nearly 2,200 Georgians are currently on the transplant waiting list, and of those, 234 are
awaiting liver transplants. The number of liver transplants has been steadily increasing for
more than 15 years. Donated livers can come from either deceased or living donors.
Signs of liver trouble include yellow discoloration of the skin or eyes; abdominal swelling
or severe abdominal pain; prolonged itching of the skin; very dark urine or pale stools or the
passage of bloody or tar-like stools; and chronic fatigue, nausea or loss of appetite. If you
have any of these symptoms, contact your doctor.
Remember to love your liver on a daily basis. Treat it right with a healthy diet, good foods
and alcohol in moderation and your love affair with your liver will last a lifetime!
Dr. Marty Sellers is the transplant surgeon for Piedmont Hospital Transplant Services, and
director of the Liver Cancer Service of the Piedmont Cancer Center.
Dr. Mark Johnson is the surgical director of the Liver Transplant Program, Piedmont
Hospital.
Here are some tips on eating for a healthy liver, healthy you!
• Eat a well-balanced, nutritionally adequate diet. If you enjoy foods from each of the four food groups, you will probably obtain the nutrients you need.
• Cut down on the amount of deep-fried and fatty foods you and your family consume. Doctors believe that the risk of gallbladder disorders (including gallstones, a liver-related disease) can be reduced by avoiding high-fat and cholesterol foods.
• If you already have liver disease, minimize your consumption of smoked, cured and salted foods. Taste your food before adding salt! Or try alternative seasonings in your cooking such as lemon juice, onion, vinegar, garlic, pepper, mustard, cloves, sage or thyme.
• Increase your intake of high-fiber foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain breads, rice and cereals. A high-fiber diet is especially helpful in keeping your liver healthy.
• Rich desserts, snacks and drinks are high in calories because of the amount of sweetening (and often fat) they contain. Why not munch on some fruit instead?
• Keep your weight close to ideal. Medical researchers have established a direct correlation between obesity and the development of gallbladder disorders. Also, those who are overweight or have diabetes are at increased risk for a form of potentially serious liver disease called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
• If you are dieting to lose weight, make sure that you are still getting all the vitamins and minerals your body – and your liver – need to function properly.
• A regular exercise routine, two or three days a week, will help keep your liver healthy, too.
(Source: American Liver Foundation)
