Be a healthy liver!

A healthy liver offers quality of life

What weighs about three pounds, is shaped like a football, and although it is an essential part of daily life, doesn’t typically get much attention? If you guessed a healthy, functioning liver, you are right.

The liver is one of several organs within the body that works to clean toxins from inside. At any moment, it can have up to 10 percent of your blood inside as it filters the toxins out. Located on the right side of the body, the liver rests just under the rib-cage. It is unique in that while it is one of the largest organs inside the body, it is the only part of you that can regenerate if damaged, or partially removed from the body.

Some may say that you would know right away if there was a problem with your liver, but doctors will tell you that this is not true. Liver disease is a slow-to-show condition that can affect your body for years without any outward signs. Noticeable symptoms of liver disease or damage include dark urine, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes), and swelling in the belly.

Conditions that affect the liver include hepatitis. There are three forms of hepatitis, two of which have vaccines. Hepatitis A is typically spread through contact with fecal matter, while Hepatitis B is spread through contact with bodily fluids, and can be passed from mother to child during birth. Hepatitis C spreads through contact with the blood of an infected individual.
Fatty liver disease, alcoholic cirrhosis, and alcoholic hepatitis are three conditions that alcohol abuse can bring on, all of which cause damage to the liver.

Hepatitis B and C can spread through dirty needles and sex.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 31,000 people died in 2014 from alcohol-induced cirrhosis, a 37 percent increase from 2002. In fact, alcohol abuse led to 2,000 more deaths than opioids in 2014.

Chronic alcohol abuse accounts for many Up to 3.9 million individuals have Hepatitis C and about 16,000 die each year; Just over a million people (1.2 million) are infected with the Hepatitis B virus, and about 3,000 die each year.

There are steps that you can take to prevent these conditions and other damage to your liver. The American Liver Foundation suggests that individuals maintain a healthy weight and diet, use alcohol responsibly, avoid the use of illicit drugs and avoid contact with needles. The organization urges people to get Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B vaccines. There is no vaccination for Hepatitis C.