Liver

The liver is one of the busiest organs in the human body. Weighing over three pounds, it is the largest organ in the human body. It is responsible for over 60 functions and the production of over 1000 different chemicals. Some of the primary functions of the liver are:

• Storing vitamins
• Storing Iron
• Breaks down cholesterol
• Breaks down hormones
• Sends waste to kidneys for elimination
• Supplies body parts with required chemicals
• Delivers food for the body to all parts without rest
• Assists in digestion of food
• Absorbs food from the intestines and stores it
• Assists in the balance of blood chemistry

The liver is one of the most frequently damaged organs of the body, but fortunately it has a tremendous reserve power. A person can survive with a liver that is up to about 90% damaged.  This is why alcoholics can drink for years without immediate damage.

Liver Disease

Liver disease may be caused by any on of hundreds of conditions, but in underdeveloped countries it is mostly caused by parasitic and fungal infections. In Great Britain, Europe and the United States the most common cause of liver disease is hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Viral Hepatitis

There are two types of viral hepatitis-Infectious or Type A, and Serum or Type B. Type A is more common in young people in closed populations such as army barracks populations. Type B is more common among older people with a depressed immune system or drug users that share needles.  In both groups the virus associated with hepatitis can cause one of three things to happen:

• No liver injury and no noticeable symptoms
• A sudden high fever and reversible liver hepatitis
• Massive liver damage 

Cirrhosis

Wide spread scarring and loss of substance in the liver is known as cirrhosis. 30 to 60% of cirrhosis cases are caused by alcoholism. It is unclear weather it is the alcohol that damages the liver or the malnutrition that occurs as a result of alcoholism.

Jaundice

Jaundice is common in healthy newborns and clears up with regular breast feedings after birth. In adults jaundice occurs due to chemical reactions controlled by the liver that are malfunctioning. A high bilirubin level turns the skin and whites of eyes yellow/green. However, jaundice may be present without liver failure, as in the newborn.

Liver Failure (Hepatic Failure)

The ending result of the hundreds of liver disorders is liver failure. If the liver becomes damaged too much, liver failure occurs and symptoms such as personality changes, confusion, lethargy, coma, tremors, blood clotting problems, a sweet-sour body odor, and hormone imbalances that cause loss of sex drive and growth of breasts in men.  

It is believed that increases in prescription and nonprescription drug usage are a factor that has increased the number of liver failure cases, as the liver breaks down these substances.

Vertebral Subluxations

Misaligned vertebrae that interfere with the nervous system and cause nerve stress are called vertebral subluxations. This interference interrupts the information and energy flow to the various parts of the body and lowers our natural resistance to sickness and disease. Chiropractors are trained to locate and correct vertebral subluxation through examination and spinal adjustment. The adjustments relieve the nerve stress and assist in restoration of body function. Proper functioning of the nervous system through chiropractic treatment is one of the best defenses against conditions and diseases that one would normally not be susceptible to.

The Chiropractic Approach

Chiropractic is not a treatment for liver disease, however it does assist in raising resistance against the sickness and disease. Spinal nerve stresses damage the nervous system and can lead to disease of all kinds.

Chiropractors locate and free the body from spinal nerve stress. Studies have shown that there is a relationship between a healthy nervous system and a healthy body.