Surprising Insights Into the Liver: 8 Hidden Facts
Explore fascinating and lesser-known facts about the liver, including its regenerative abilities, detox functions, historical significance, and crucial role in blood and brain health. Discover how this vital organ impacts overall wellbeing and its unique features across species.
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The liver, the body's second-largest organ, is vital for numerous bodily functions. It regulates metabolism, aids fat burning, and helps maintain a healthy weight. Positioned above the stomach beneath the diaphragm, its size is comparable to a football. While many know its basic functions, fewer are aware of some intriguing facts about this organ. Discover more below:
It has an incredible regenerative ability
The liver can regenerate itself remarkably, needing only a quarter of its tissue to restore fully, thanks to evolutionary adaptations. This trait is fundamental to liver transplants.
The liver functions as a detox powerhouse
It filters toxins from food and drinks, breaking them down with enzymes and oxygen, then combines them with amino acids for disposal via urine or bile.
It performs numerous crucial roles
Among its many functions, the liver produces essential plasma proteins, processes hemoglobin to retrieve iron, detoxifies harmful substances, and converts ammonia into urea, which exits as urine.
Ancient cultures linked the liver to pleasure
The Greeks regarded the liver as the seat of pleasure—the Greek word “hepar” originally meant joy and human emotions. Similarly, Mesopotamians associated it with feelings.
The liver is key in forming blood cells
During fetal development, the liver is one of the primary sites for hematopoiesis, the process that produces blood cells and platelets, highlighting its vital role in blood formation.
The earliest liver transplant attempt failed
In 1958, Francis Moore described liver transplantation in dogs, but the first human attempt by Thomas Starzl in 1963 ended unsuccessfully, with patients not surviving beyond three weeks.
A healthy liver supports brain health
The liver filters toxins from the bloodstream, protecting the brain. Impaired liver function can lead to hepatic encephalopathy, a severe condition that may result in coma.
Livers are present across vertebrates
All vertebrates have livers. Notably, the basking shark's liver can weigh about 25% of its total body weight, making it one of the world's largest.
