Our liver is the second largest organ in our body; our skin being the first. More than being a reddish-brown organ hidden deep inside the body, it is one of the main reasons for us being alive. The liver performs a variety of functions to ensure we are healthy and living a disease-free life. The liver being so vital for our survival, do you think living without the liver or living with half a liver is possible?
Before we dive straight into whether living with half a liver is possible, let’s know some unknown facts about this vital human organ.
Living with Half a Liver: Getting to Know the Basics
The reddish-brown, glandular, lobed organ is situated on the right side of your abdominal cavity. It sits on top of the gallbladder right next to the pancreas and the intestines.
Divided into two lobes, the chief function of the liver is to work as a team with these surrounding organs and help digest and absorb the food you eat. The blood that comes from your digestive tract is first filtered by the liver and then sent to the other parts of your body.
Is living with half a liver or no liver possible?
Well, the answer is YES and NO. The liver is one of the most important organs in our body crucial for existence. While we can very well lead a healthy life with just a part of our liver, we sure can’t live without it at all.
This is what will happen if we begin to live without our liver:
- The clotting mechanism in our blood gets affected. Blood doesn’t clot and we will suffer from uncontrolled bleeding.
- No filtration of toxins and chemicals and the digestive byproducts that will start building up in our bloodstream.
- Our body will lack its immunity to fight against bacterial and fungal infections.
- Fatal swelling of the brain may occur.
- Death isn’t far away without a liver.
Interesting facts about the liver
Aside from how you can living with half a liver is possible, here’s a list of ten fascinating facts about the liver that may surprise you.
The liver lives on
If you got 75% of your liver removed today, the remaining 25% will regenerate into a full-sized liver in about 8-15 days. How cool is that?
The new liver will match with the old part of the liver and start functioning the moment it starts regenerating. This is how humans can manage living with half liver and live on. This is the only organ that can regenerate on its own. Hence the name ‘liver’!
Multi-faceted
The liver is both an organ as well as a gland. It has dual personalities with the job of being an organ-specific to one region in the body-as well as being a gland that secretes hormones. The liver filters the toxins from and pushes them out of our bodies.
Multi-tasker
The liver performs a minimum of 500 different functions in the body.
It as a blood purifier and filter, breaks down old blood cells, produces proteins required for clotting of blood, and many other such vital functions. It plays a key role in the digestion of food by secreting bile that is required for the breakdown of fats.
The organ also stores glucose in the form of glycogen. This helps in maintaining blood sugar levels. It is a storehouse of all fat-soluble vitamins A, E, and K.
Detoxifier
All the alcohol and/or drugs that we put into your body are filtered and removed out by our liver. This organ detoxifies our internal system by removing the toxins from our bodies.
Fat retainer
About 10% of our liver is made of fat. Fatty liver results if the fat content goes above 10%. This is caused mainly due to obesity and puts us at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.
