Running Heading: Cirrhosis of the Liver
Our Body, Cirrhosis of the Liver
Our body is like a machine that is made up of many parts. Sometimes those parts, like car parts, fail. Understanding our parts is an important part of learning to keep our body running. Our liver has many functions and our body cannot do what it does without it. Maybe it might be a little difficult to learn about all the parts that the body consists of because there are so many, however, people should try and be aware of the functions of the major organs and what can be done to keep these organs safe. We know that our car will last longer if we change the oil every 3000 miles. What type of preventative maintenance can we do to keep our body parts safe and happy? In this paper, I will focus on the functions of the liver, some common causes, diagnosis and preventative maintenance.
Liver Functions and Cirrhosis
The liver is the largest organ in the human body and we cannot live without it. The liver does many things such as, neutralizes poisons in the blood, helps the immune system by making agents that control infection, removes germs from the blood and produces bile. Cirrhosis is a complication of many liver diseases that is characterized by abnormal structure and function of the liver. (Lee and Marks 2008). If a person has a liver disease, what happens is that the disease injures and kills liver cells. The dying liver cells, in an attempt to try to repair them, become inflamed which eventually create scar tissue in the liver. The liver cells that do not die, multiply to try and replace the cells that have died which a phenomenon is known as “regenerative nodules.” According to World Health Organization (1978), regenerative nodules may form in the fibrous septa but they are not necessary for the histological diagnosis of cirrhosis as nodules alone without fibrosis do not constitute cirrhosis. Since the liver is a very important part of the body, having cirrhosis...