The Liver: A ‘Blob’ That Runs the Body
The flip side to the liver&#x27;s amazing duties in the body is the catastrophic impact on health when it fails. A failed liver takes out basically every body system.<p>When the liver can&#x27;t break down bilirubin, you get jaundice and itch all over.<p>When the liver becomes cirrhotic, blood can&#x27;t move through it, increasing pressure in the portal vein and precipitating life-threatening bleeds in the stomach and esophagus. For an extra bonus, clotting factors are manufactured in the liver, so these bleeds can be uncontrolled.<p>The spleen enlarges and gobbles up white blood cells, compromising immunity.<p>Ammonia and other yet not fully understood toxins that the liver can&#x27;t filter cross the blood-brain barrier and cause hepatic encephalopathy, ranging from brain fog to coma.<p>Liver disease is also tied to hepatorenal syndrome (kidney failure) and hepatopulmonary syndrome (lung damage), both of which can be sudden and fatal.<p>Ascites (retention of fluid) also accompanies cirrhosis, often requiring paracentesis, which in turn is correlated with sepsis that the compromised immune system can&#x27;t fight (also often fatal).<p>Low Vitamin D in cirrhotic patients leads to osteoporosis, including vertebral fractures.<p>Inability to process protein leads to muscle wasting and weight loss, reducing strength and immunity.<p>And finally, cirrhosis is correlated with an increased risk of liver cancer.<p>The cure for any of these conditions?  Transplant, if you&#x27;re lucky and the other systems aren&#x27;t too badly damaged.  Everything else is just holding on.<p>And to get a transplant?  You have to be sick enough and sufficiently close to death that you&#x27;re eligible, but strong enough to survive major surgery.  No insurance in the US?  They won&#x27;t even assess you.<p>A liver transplant saved my life three years ago.  I&#x27;ve lived this list of symptoms.  My debt to the universe is to educate when possible, to console when necessary.