Decoding the liver

Although the liver is a strong organ with powerful regenerative capabilities, patients with liver-related diseases tend to remain asymptomatic, leading to a lack of suspicion which would have otherwise served as a precursor for diagnosis, writes Dr Shiv Sarin

While awarded a high place of importance in proverbial phrases, the liver remains a mystery to those not particularly involved in the field of medicine. The liver has crucial functions to play out in the body: it filters blood, stores nutrients, produces important enzymes, and regulates blood sugar levels.

The traditional understanding of the heart and brain as the only vital organs has had damning consequences for society’s overall quality of health. The body is a machine — it must be consistently and thoroughly maintained. The underscoring of the importance of one’s liver has led to an increase in liver-related difficulties; particularly fatty liver disease, which can lead to the development of diabetes and obesity later on.

Many assume that alcohol is consumable if it is not in extreme amounts. While that may stand true for defining a person’s ability to moderate, it does not hold the same weight in medicine. All forms of alcohol, including wine and beer, which are often assumed to be the least harmful, hinge on their determiner, “least”. All alcohol is harmful to your liver, a hard truth in today’s times, wherein alcohol is a socialiser and an acceptable activity to partake in.

Today’s era of identity politics may find it tough to acknowledge the hard truth that women and men require different lifestyles to maintain a healthy liver and body. Particularly for women concerned with maintaining their fertility, the liver is an imperative organ that helps maintain the health of the foetus. Women’s bodies are genetically not programmed to handle alcohol at the same level that male bodies can, requiring them to be extra cautious about consumption.

Exercise, as a method to a healthy lifestyle, has become a platitude, with almost all repeating some version of this axiom, without particularly following through with it. Leading a sedentary lifestyle can be extremely damaging, especially concerning digestion and the breakdown of fats. Moving around, especially after eating, can help aid this very breakdown.

Another damaging belief is the one we put into weight as a determiner of whether a person is healthy or not, especially when it comes to the liver. A weighing machine cannot accurately point out the breakup of the body. To effectively gauge fat, muscle, bone and water proportions, a process called body composition analysis has to take place.

For a healthy liver, regularity and consistency is extremely important. The liver is a strong organ, with powerful regenerative capabilities. Often, patients of liver-related diseases tend to remain asymptomatic, leading to a lack of suspicion which would have otherwise served as a precursor for diagnosis. For example, fatty liver is not always present in only plump people. Slimmer individuals are also at risk of it, with 20% of those with relatively customary proportions having been diagnosed with the same. Just as someone excessively dependent on medicines would need to have a different proportion of diet and exercise to be considered healthy, other predispositions also play a huge role particularly an individual’s genetic makeup as well as their proclivities.

Some life-saving tips can help one lead a healthy life:  

♦ Eat only as much as you can burn that day. If you have binged in the evening, burn the calories the next day. Eat low glycemic and least inflammatory food.

♦ Get your metabolic and physical health checked. Record your current health-related handicaps.

♦ Keep an hour a day for yourself. Strive to attain physical fitness and a chiselled figure through regular exercise. Be proud of your body.

(Dr Shiv Sarin is a liver specialist and the author of Own Your Body which was recently published by Bloomsbury.)