Friday, April 10, 2009

liver health

Everything you eat, drink, breathe and absorb through your skin eventually reaches your liver. It controls a process called metabolism, in which your liver breaks down nutrients into usable byproducts. These byproducts are delivered to the rest of your body by your bloodstream. Your liver also breaks down toxins into byproducts that can be safely eliminated.

Your liver is very resilient in the face of liver problems. It can remain functional after losing most of its cells to disease. It can regenerate in a few weeks — even after much of it has been removed during surgery.

But your liver isn't indestructible — liver problems are possible. Excessive alcohol consumption over many years is a leading cause of liver disease. Too much alcohol can make a normal liver swell with fat, causing a condition called fatty liver. If the fat becomes inflamed, it can lead to either alcoholic hepatitis, a liver problem that causes serious but often reversible liver damage, or cirrhosis, which causes irreversible liver damage. Because of extensive scarring, a cirrhotic liver shrinks to a fraction of its normal size.
http://www.iseekblog.com/catfood/80225/health+info.html