{"id":205,"date":"2022-04-06T16:38:51","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T16:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hannonchiropractic.com\/blog\/?p=205"},"modified":"2022-04-06T16:38:52","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T16:38:52","slug":"a-necessary-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hannonchiropractic.com\/blog\/a-necessary-introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"A Necessary Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Allow me to introduce you to\na part of your body that is normally not thought about until there is a major problem.  This part, or more accurately this organ, is\nyour liver.  Your liver weighs about 3\npounds, is one of your largest internal organs, and is located in the right\nupper abdominal region; in an adult the liver is roughly the size of a football.  The liver has more than 500 functions, that\nwe currently know about.  The liver is vitally\nimportant in everything from your immune system, your digestion, storing energy\nand other nutrients, detoxification, building proteins, and even hormone\nregulation.  Thankfully the liver is so\namazing that during a crisis, where part of your liver is damaged, we can count\non the remaining parts of the liver to sustain life for us; up to a point.  The stats show that 1 in 10 Americans will have\nsome form of liver disease, while every year 19,500 people die from liver\ncancer and 49,500 die from liver cirrhosis; a study even showed that about 10%\nof teens in the US\nhave non alcoholic fatty liver disease! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a list of some of the known liver functions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

filters and processes blood,\nregulates composition of blood, metabolizes or breaks down nutrients, stores\nnutrients, removes toxins from the blood, makes blood clotting proteins,\nproduces cholesterol, everything that goes into the mouth gets digested and will\nbe immediately filtered by the liver, produces albumin, production of bile (which\nhelps carry away waste and breaks down fats like omega 3 fish oil and fat\nsoluble vitamins like Vitamins A D E and K), converts excess glucose into\nglycogen for storage (glycogen can later be converted back to glucose for\nenergy), regulates blood levels of amino acids (which form the building blocks\nof proteins), stores iron, converts ammonia to urea (which is an end product of\nprotein metabolism and is excreted in the urine), helps resist infections by\nmaking immune factors and removing bacteria from the bloodstream,  clears bilirubin (from red blood cells, if\nthere is an accumulation of bilirubin, the skin and eyes can yellow), and much\nmore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Causes of liver disease:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

viral infections, alcohol,\ninflammation, medications (especially acetaminophen), fatty deposits can lead\nto scar tissue which leads to liver cirrhosis, fast weight loss, malnutrition,\nobesity, gastric bypass surgery, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, type 2\ndiabetes, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, hypothyroidism, hypopituitarism, and\nexposure to toxins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Common labels of liver disorders include: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cirrhosis, Hepatitis (A, B,\nC, D, and E), Cancer, Alcoholic fatty liver disease, non alcoholic fatty liver\ndisease, Autoimmune or inherited liver disease (appreciate that as an example\nof our continual learning about the body, what doctors initially called\n“autoimmune liver disease” later became HIV\/AIDS as their knowledge\nchanged), and fatty liver disease (Steatosis)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs to identify liver disease:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

digestive bloating and gas,\nright shoulder pain, white of eyes turn yellow, skin issues like itching feet\nand palms, large bloated belly, weakness, fatigue, weight loss, vomiting,\nabdominal pain, swelling of the legs, jaundice (yellow discoloration of skin), feeling\ntired, loss of appetite, nausea, confusion, trouble concentrating, dark urine, bruising\neasily, excessive sweat, constipation, pale or dark tar-colored stool, dry and\ndark patches on neck and under arms, the buildup of fluid in the body, watery\nloose stools, and grey or white floating stools<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to do about it<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many solutions there is\nnot one thing to do, but more a combination of doing more of the good things\nand less of the bad things.  Here is a\nlist of the good things to help your liver: eat bitter foods, eat collard\ngreens, eat radishes, eat kale, eat healthy fats, consume apple cider vinegar, control\nand stabilize blood sugar, eat cabbage, eat liver meat, eat cauliflower, eat\nbroccoli, eat Brussels sprouts, eat asparagus, eat beets, eat celery, eat Spanish\nblack radish, take milk thistle, exercise, eat turmeric, take berberine, get\ngood restorative sleep, filter your air, filter your water, and reduce stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a list of things to\ncut out to help your liver be healthy: alcohol, bad oils, trans fats, toxins\n(from the air, water, food and personal care products like cleaning products,\nshampoo, deodorants, tooth paste, cosmetics, and more, check out EWG.org for more\nresources), drugs (Acetaminophen is the leading cause of acute liver failure),\nhigh carbohydrate foods, sugary drinks, processed foods, high fructose corn\nsyrup, foods stored in BPA plastic, MSG, understand that fructose sugar is only\nbe metabolized by the liver and too much fructose can be a liver stressor\n(sources of fructose include high fructose corn syrup, fruit, fruit juice,\nagave, and honey).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is what you need to know.\u00a0 If currently you are enjoying the blessings of good health great, but don’t take it for granted.\u00a0 Many people have no complaints, or symptoms, of liver disease but sub clinically have liver damage; which is why it is important to live a healthy life like you don’t want liver problems and get yearly blood labs to check your liver.\u00a0 Understand that we are seeing dramatic increases in the number of Americans, both young and old, developing liver issues.\u00a0 Understand that commonly we see healthy liver, which under the right circumstances, turns into fatty liver (which is reversible), which can lead to scaring (which is permanent damage) of liver tissue which prevents the liver from functioning properly.\u00a0 This scaring leads further to liver cirrhosis.\u00a0 Quite commonly I see the following situation unfold in my practice: a patient comes in and informs me that they recently had blood lab work and we proceed to look through it, I often find people with elevated liver enzymes on this check up but their doctor suggested they just monitor them (or worse failed to mention it all together), I send the patient for a liver ultrasound and find either gal stones or fatty liver, their primary doctor again will suggest that monitoring their fatty liver as the best course of action.\u00a0 This is the equivalent of watching someone standing on the cliff of liver cirrhosis, which in my practice, I do not recommend just watching you stand there.\u00a0 We recommend action steps that can support the body’s natural healing ability to help patients take steps away from the cirrhosis cliff.\u00a0 The liver can heal, but it takes time, sometimes even up to 3 or more years.\u00a0 I want to leave you with a deep thought.\u00a0 If an animal population, say tuna fish, was having 1 out of 10 of its young having issues with an organ, say their liver, would we think the solution would be “what drug to give them” or “we should just monitor the problem”?\u00a0 Or, would we look at their environment to see what is going on that was the root cause of this issue.\u00a0 Exactly, we would look into the deeper root causes and have a prevention strategy.\u00a0 Unfortunately most of what we do as far as health care is reactive not proactive.\u00a0 So get proactive and live a healthy lifestyle.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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