Liver

By: Haley Johnson and Bogdan Vitoc

• The Liver is located in the right abdominal cavity and below the lungs and diaphragm.

The liver has many different functions such as:

• Producing bile, which helps in the breakdown of glucose
• Converting glucose to a form of starch used for storing energy that can be coverted back to glucose if more energy is required. This is called glycogen.
• Breaking down insulin among with other hormones when needed.
• Storing many vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin A, D, and B12 and iron and copper for an average of a years supply.
• Producing amino acids which are the basic compound of protien which in turn is the basic compound of cells.

• It is important for the liver to break down

insulin becuase isulin is a hormone that is sent by the brain

to tell the body how much glucose to absorb.

Whenever enough insulin is released it the flow needs to be stoped and

when the liver kicks in.

• Insulin also tells the liver how much glucose to convert into glycogen and how much to store.
• The bile is produced by the hepatocytes or liver cells and is then sent into thin channels called canaliculi which drain into bigger ones and so on untill it eventually enters the gallbladder, from where it goes into the intetestines.
• The bile also helps eliminate cholesterol.
• The hepatocytes are assembled into rope like structures sperated by sinusoids (smaller blood conduits).
• The liver is the largest glandular organ in the body weighing an average of 3 pounds.
• The right lobe is approximatly 6x larger than the left lobe which is flatter and the two are divided by a coronary ligament. They both contain thousands of tiny lobulus.

The liver is a victim of many different types of diseases such as:

• Liver cancer is the third most widespread cancer in the world.

even though it usually doesn't originate in the liver itself, it can cause many

serious problems such as causing the liver to completly fail.

• Gallstones are like kidney stones but in the gallbladder. They can block the normal

flow of bile which can cause inflamation in the liver and gallbladder.

• Liver failure is another issue that can ultimately lead to coma and even death.
• Cirrhosis is the final stage of liver disease and can cause kidney failure, liver failure,

bleeding disorders, mental confusion and more.

"The Human Liver: Function, Body Location, Disease Of, Picture, Shape."

MamasHealth.com: Simple, Easy to Understand Information about Health. Web. 23 June 2011. .

Function

The Liver

Organ Location

How it works

Bibliography

"Hepatocytes | Liver Cells." InnerBody.com | Human Body, Anatomy Charts, Anatomical Models. Web. 23 June 2011. .

"The Liver - Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body - Yahoo! Education." Yahoo! Education - Dictionary,

Colleges, Scholarships, Homework Help, Schools, Reference, Thesaurus & More. Web. 23 June 2011. .

"University of Illinois Medical Center:Health Library." Web. 23 June 2011. .

"Gallstones." National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Web. 23 June 2011. .

Liver Diseases