TAKING CARE OF YOUR INTERNAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER!

Prevention & Management of Liver Disease

© Jacquelyn Johnston, M.Ed.

Been to an airport recently?

Air traffic controllers sort planes according to landing permit, weather, speed, altitude and  proximity to the airport, and give each person responsible for a happy landing the necessary instructions.  In much the same way, the second heaviest organ in the body collects incoming information, checks the atmospheric conditions, sorts, permits the right incoming traffic to land, services the transport apparatus, and sends it out to carry readied cargo to its destination.  

Like Air Traffic control, the largest and second heaviest organ in the body works round the clock. Like its counterpart at the airport, it carries a high-stress responsibility, but in normal atmospheric conditions, does a terrific job.  It is, curiously enough, rather partial to sleep.  And there’s where the similarity ends. While you’re dreaming the liver repairs itself, and if some of it is removed, it can often regenerate itself.  Your liver is your friend - it’s in your best interests to treat it well.  It needs a mini-sabbatical every night.    

For the liver to be happy it needs water - lots of it.  Drink some before you get thirsty.  The liver collects the dirty laundry from the blood vessels, launders it, then exports the freshly aired goods it all over the body, and you feel blissfully energized.  However, there are some things that impede its proper function; if the liver could speak, its side of the  dialogue would sound something like this: 

• "Do you smoke? Sorry, can’t help you much. Keep going, and cancer will be yours."
• "Do you drink? (the heavy stuff) You’re headed for cirrhosis."
• "Breakfast daily on fries and hash browns?  You’re in for fatty liver syndrome."
• "Travelling?  Take precautions against hepatitis."
• "Overweight?  Watch out for gall bladder disorders."
• "Use aerosol cleaners?  Please don’t make my job any more difficult!"

And the list goes on.  The Canadian Liver Foundation has a list 40 items long!

Some of the most common liver-related complications are Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and hepatitis C.   Others include cirrhosis, cancer, transplants, and, increasingly, fatty liver disease.  To this we must add gall bladder disease. Many associate these liver ailments with drug addiction, not realizing that, in the ‘nineties, there was a campaign to have Ontario teachers immunized en masse against hepatitis that could be contracted via broken test tubes in the lab, or simply by tending to Johnny’s grazed knee without gloves. 

Some liver complications can be acquired with one misstep, like Hepatis B contracted with just one infected ice cube, or one wayward shrimp; but many others are the result of years of abuse, neglect, ignorance, or sheer denial that something ominous could be building up thanks to lifestyle choices. 

There is an urban myth that says you don’t have to worry about the liver because it can regenerate itself.  The liver also has its limits, and isn’t a replaceable part like a robot’s arm.  It needs all the respect and attention we can give it.   It calls for an awareness of ways the all-embracing liver can affect the rest of the human organism. 

• The liver performs over 500 functions every 24 hours
• It neutralizes and destroys poisonous substances like metals and chemicals
• It keeps the mind alert
• It keeps the body active
• It produces, stores and exports fat

 

A glimpse at the workings of the main offenders… 

Hepatitis A comes through a virus transmitted through contamination in food such as undercooked seafood, and contaminated water.  It can be contracted via someone who doesn’t wash his /her hands after using the washroom.  Think of the implications in food harvested by labourers in fields with poor sanitation facilities.  We are used to an abundance of season-neutral fruits.  Could there be a caution to heed there?  Think of the possibility of contracting Hepatitis A from a food handler in a restaurant who has less-than-ideal hygienic practices.  Any oral-fecal contact including that which involves sexual activity is at high risk for contacting Hepatitis A.  It can become a real health hazard if a person with hepatitis A is further infected by someone who has Hepatitis B.    

Hepatitis B is also caused by a virus.  A person can be a host for years and not know it.  As with the A strain, it can manifest itself in the yellowing of the eyes and skin: Jaundice.  In less than 5% of adults it can scar the liver-cirrhosis-and/or cancer of the liver in later life.  Children who contract Hepatitis B are at risk for chronic infection in later life.  At risk are sexual partners of carriers, and multiple sexual partners.  It is transmissible from mother to child.  Children living in the same household as an infected individual can easily contract it.  People who use injection drugs are at high risk, as are workers in the health sector, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and teachers.  Vaccines are available for this strain, though safe practices, including consistent condom use. Gloves for person-to-person interactions are recommended for all the above-mentioned individuals. 

Hepatitis C is spread by direct contact with the blood of an infected person.  At risk are:

• individuals who use injection drugs
• those who had blood transfusions before 1990
• those who have tattoos and body piercing done with non-sterile instruments

Symptoms include jaundice, but the disease can go undetected for years.  However, if there is persistent abdominal pain, loss of appetite and nausea it would be wise to get tested.  About a fifth of the people who contract Hepatitis C can rid themselves of the virus, but most keep it for life.  This is the strain that causes most scarring in the liver, and is the most frequent reason for a transplant.  As with the other strains of Hepatitis it would be wise to make early lifestyle changes as well as maintain a schedule of close monitoring by a physician. 

As with blood vessels, the liver has ducts inside and outside - bile ducts - small tubes that carry bile from the liver to the gall bladder and intestines.  With the narrowing of these ducts through inflammation scarring occurs, thus preventing the right amount of bile from leaving the liver to do its job.  The trapped bile damages liver cells, resulting in a liver disease called PSC (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis) .  More common between the ages of 30 and 50, PSC can also occur alone. However, it can also exist side-by-side with inflammatory diseases of the colon, for example.  Inflammation is always a possibility when tubes are involved, and as is the case with blood vessels, it slows down the normal transmission of vital fluids and its effects are far-reaching. 

Fatty Liver Disease is yet another by-product of our sedentary, stressful existence.  Its symptoms mimic those of the alcoholic.  In its severe stages it is known as NASH : Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis.   Among its many contributing factors are obesity and diabetes.   As with the heart, we can only expect the liver to perform its intended functions.  The liver cannot function optimally in an individual with high blood pressure or an individual who persists in feeding it the by-products of processed foods.   At present there is no medication proven to treat Fatty Liver Disease.  This is particularly distressing as the disease is manifesting itself increasingly in children.  Ten per cent of children in Canada are overweight, and the number is higher south of the border.  It is usually detected after a person is seen to have an enlarged liver or abnormal liver tests.   

    

Cancer of the Liver shares a common denominator with other cancers.  The organ has toxic cells that multiply out of control.   Genetics may play a part, but environmental factors are obviously another source of concern.   However, this is, of economic necessity, the purview of bodies larger than the individual - governments, for example. 

Much can be done on the individual level.  We need to heighten our awareness of the role of outlook in the occurrence of disease, be it cancer or otherwise.   In the case of cancer, yes, there can be an inherited susceptibility to infection.  But barring being born with a compromised immune system we can do a great deal to help ourselves fend off the carcinogenic effects of our daily choices.  Indeed, in an age of long hospital queues and a shortage of doctors, staying informed may be our only hope.  We can make daily life-changing choices that benefit us in the long run. 

So...

We will all encounter opposition from friends who say, for instance: “Oh, come on, a couple of fries won’t hurt you”.  That may be true; nobody expects you to keel over after ingesting three sticks of old frozen potato coated with acrylamides, or drinking one can of coloured water, but do it again…and again…and again…and you’ll get the world’s most strident wake-up call: an unexpected ambulance ride giving everyone--mostly you--the scare of your life!  O,r in the Doctor’s office, or a public place surrounded by strangers.  Worse still, that may be your child’s experience. 

If you are in doubt as to the direction you are taking you can discuss this with a professional Health Coach.  That is who you can have recourse to if you have had a diagnosis and need a road map, solutions and support proffered with your specific health goals in mind.  Or if you been luck enough not to have had a diagnosis, but know you have to make some changes if your retirement is to be full of vitality, enjoyed with flexibility. 

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©  Jacquelyn Johnston, M.Ed., is a certified professional Health Coach and educator with the expertise and experience to help her personal and corporate clients reach and sustain optimal health and weight. Through her carefully customized programs and weekly supportive coaching calls, clients make the gains--and losses--that are difficult to achieve alone. She has been an active health advocate for more than twenty years. She shares her vast expertise through keynotes, seminars and individual coaching for those ready to lose weight, and those wanting to prevent or manage diabetes, diabesity, liver or heart disease. Get a free report, a free coaching consultation and more at www.LifestyleForLongevity.com

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