The liver is a large vital organ that performs many critical functions to maintain health and sustain life. It is located at the right upper portion of the abdomen just below the right side of the chest, extending into the middle postion of the abdomen. To understand what liver function tests are and why they are taken, it is first necessary to know more about liver function.
Important Functions of the Liver
The liver is a complex organ that:
Manufactures proteins, including blood clotting factors and albumin
Synthesizes, stores and metabolizes fats, fatty acids and cholesterol
Metabolizes carbohydrates and stores them for energy
Forms and secretes bile, which contains the bile acid necessary for absorption of fats and vitamins
Metabolizes, secretes and eliminates harmful endproducts produced from normal body processes, including bilirubin and ammonia
Metabolizes, secretes and detoxifies environmental toxins, drugs and alcohol taken into the body
The liver, therefore, aids in many bodily functions, such as digestion, excretion, supplying the body with energy, protecting the body from bleeding to death, and more. When one or more of these functions are disrupted by disease or injury, symptoms may not occur immediately because of the large liver reserve that protects and restores its function. It usually takes a significant amount of damage, which may occur over time, before symptoms arise.
Symptoms of Liver Disease
When liver function is affected by disease or injury, these symptoms may occur:
Yellowing of the skin and white portion (sclerae) of the eyes – due to liver's inability to metabolize and secrete bilirubin, which has a yellow pigment
Easy bruising or bleeding – due to liver's inability to produce enough blood clott...
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...zyme found in many tissues including the liver. Although no-specific, increased LD levels may suggest liver damage.
Prothrombin time or PT. This test checks the amount of time it takes the blood to form a clot. If higher than normal, it may indicate that there are low levels of blood clotting factors, which may be due to liver disease. PT may be done together with PTT (partial thromboplastin time) and INR (International normalized ratio), which are not strictly liver function tests, but are standard methods for laboratories to report PT.
Works Cited
MedicineNet. Liver. http://www.onhealth.com/liver/page2.htm#what_is_the_function_of_the_liver.
Mayo Clinic. Liver Function Tests. http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/liver-function-tests/basics/why-its-done/prc-20012602
WebMD. Liver Function Tests. http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/liver-function-test-lft
Gallstones form when the liquid stored in the gallbladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. The liquid, called bile is used to help the body digest fats. Bile is made in the liver, and then stored in the gallbladder until the body needs to digest fat. At that time, the gallbladder contracts and pushes the bile into a tube—called the common bile duct—that carries it to the small intestine, where it help with digestion.
come along, this is when the bile is released to digest the fat. The same
• Jaundice. This is yellowing of the skin and eyes. In a newborn, jaundice is usually caused by a buildup of waste products in the blood due to the breakdown of red blood cells that the baby cannot get rid of fast
The pancreas can be divided into two sections when studying the histology. The pancreas has exocrine and endocrine functions, each with unique cell types. The exocrine pancreas serves to secrete digestive enzymes into the duodenum. Some of the specific enzymes and secreted substances are Proteases, lipase, amylase, bicarbonate, and water (Bowen, “Exocrine Secretions”). These enzymes are used to break down protein, fat, and carbohydrates respectively. The bicarbonate simply act as an acid buffer to prevent damage of the small intestine as the stomach acid must be neutralized. The enzymes are created in acinar cells and the bicarbonate is synthesized in epithelial cells surrounding pancreatic ducts (Bowen “Exocrine
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The spleen, an organ on the left side of the abdomen across from the liver, is responsible for filtering the blood for infections and other abnormalities.
Liver disease resulting from alcohol affects more than two million Americans and is one of the primary causes of illness and death. The liver frees the body of harmful substances, such as alcohol. While the liver breaks down alcohol, it produces toxins that can be even more dangerous than the alcohol consumed (“Beyond Hangovers: Understanding Alcohol's Impact on Your Health” 13). “These by-products damage liver cells, promote inflammation, and weaken the body’s natural defenses. Eventually, these problems can disrupt the body’s metabolism and impair the function of other organs” (“Beyond Hangovers: Understanding Alcohol’s Impact on Your Health” 13).
Wolf, David. "Cirrhosis." Medscape reference. WebMd LLC, Sep 22 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. .
In this scenario Mr. Abdul is at high risk of chronic alcoholism mainly causing danger to his liver due to alcohol abuse in which healthy liver cells are replaced by scar tissue. Evidence showed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (2010) that alcoholic liver disease accounted fourteen percent of all deaths due to diseases of the digestive system and of alcoholic liver disease, more males than females died and seventy five percent majority of people aged betw...
The presentation of HCC has changed significantly over recent years especially in developed countries. In the past, HCC generally presented at an advanced stage with right upper quadrant pain, weight loss, and signs of decompensated liver disease. It is currently more regularly identified at an earlier stage as a result of routine screening of patients with known cirrhosis. This screening usually comes in the form of imaging studies and serum alpha-fetoprotein measurements2.
The liver is the largest internal organ in our body, weighing about 3 pounds. It is reddish-brown and rubbery to the touch (WebMD, n.d.). Our liver is one of the most important organs in our body. It exists to process nutrients from the food we eat, make proteins, make bile, and remove toxins. These processes can get interfered with due to liver failure, when the liver is damaged to an extent that it won’t function normally for months or years.
Transferring dietary lipids (fats) - Lipids as well as lipid soluble are similar substance vitamins which are captivated meaning absorbed from the diet and are passed to the blood within the lymphatic system to a certain extent rather than by the venous drainage of the small intestine.
Albinism is a very serious disease that could end up in death. Albinism is a recessive inherited defect in melanin, which is metabolism in which pigment is absent from skin, hair, and eyes. Albinism in hair, skin, and eyes is called oculocutaneous albinism. Humans that have oculocotaneous albinism are not able to produce melanin. These people have white, yellow, or yellow brown hair, very light ( usually blue ) eyes, and very pale skin. Their eyes may appear pink because they have very little pigment.
It is then secreted within the small intestine where it helps to break down ethanol, fats and other acidic wastes including ammonia, into harmless substances.
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