Preview

the liver

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
338 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
the liver
The Liver is the largest internal organ in the human body. The liver is the body's processing and “manufacturing” plant. It has hundreds of roles but the most important is adjusting and monitoring the chemical composition of your blood, breaking down food to convert it into energy when you need it. It also helps you fight infections. Its dark color is because of a rich blood supply. In the average adult is is about 8 inches wide, 6.5 inches long and 4.5 inches thick and weighs approximately 3.5 pounds (1.6 kilograms).The livers contribution directly to digestion is the supply of bile to the small intestine. It stores, reroutes, and transforms nutrients that have been absorbed into the bloodstream from the digestive system. Without the liver every time you eat could release high levels of sugars and nutrients into the bloodstream that could be deadly. One reason your liver might fail is because of excessive drinking (alcohol). Your liver should contain some fat but if it has a fat percentage over 10% then you have what is called a fatty liver and will develop complications. This can be a result of eating fatty unhealthy foods like Mcdonalds excessively.
The liver takes blood from two sources (oxygen-rich) blood from the heart and (oxygen-poor but food-rich) blood from the alimentary canal (the whole passage along which food passes through the body from mouth to anus). Inside the liver the two streams mix and the blood makes its way back to heart. Hepatocytes are cells that are organized into thousands of six-sided units called lobules. They are about the size of a sesame seed. Inside the lobule sheets of hepatocytes line the “maze” (leaky capillaries) that converge in towards the central vein. The corners of the lobules there are three vessels, two carrying blood into liver and one carrying bile out. An arteriole brings blood from the heart a venule brings blood from the alimentary canal. Blood passes through the leaky capillaries on its way to the central vein,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The liver function by Filtering the blood coming from the digestive tract, before sending it through the rest of the body. It also Detoxifies the chemicals and metabolizes drugs, Liver is essential for blood clotting and secrets bile back in the intestine to help with digestion. Injury to the liver predisposes the patient to bleed, accumulation of toxins in the body and issues with metabolism.…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    We have immediately been injected into Corrin’s femoral vein. The femoral vein is located in the upper right thigh and pelvic region of the body and runs close to the femoral artery. It is one of the largest veins in the venal system. The femoral vein returns blood in the leg to the heart via the iliac vein (WiseGEEK, 2013). As we travel north on this special voyage we will pass through the external and common iliac veins as we make our way to the small intestines. If close attention is paid, the colon is able to be seen. The common iliac veins are the vessels that bring the blood to the heart. There are two main veins, which are joined together to form the inferior mesenteric, or the lower half of the large intestines, which is responsible for blood supply to the third segment on the left side of the transverse colon (InnerBody, 2013). The function of this vein is to bring the deoxygenated blood from the lower extremities as well as the other lower regions of the body to the right atrium. We are now traveling up the inferior mesenteric and through the celiac. We are passing by and able to see various organs throughout the body such as the spleen; which holds extra blood, the stomach; which is where digestion starts, and the…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nursing 101

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The liver is one of the most important organs in your body and weighs about 3 pounds.…

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    unit 2 anatomy

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Your liver is the primary organ responsible for the production of cholesterol in your body.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Blood transport happens in the circulatory system. The oxygenated blood gets transported from the lungs to the left atrium of the heart by the pulmonary vein. It then travels around the body by the aorta which sends it to the whole body. When the travelling is finished the oxygenated blood is now deoxygenated blood. The deoxygenated blood then travels back to the lungs by the vena cava to the right atrium into the heart. Now deoxygenated blood has reached the heart, the pulmonary artery carries the blood to…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mentioned above, nutrients from food travels throughout the body through the blood and these nutrients are sourced from the digestive system as the nutrients are produced by the breakdown of food. The absorption of food occurs in the small intestines and inside the small intestines there are thin finger like tubes called villi. Digested food enters the small intestines and each villus allows absorption of the nutrients into the blood stream. There are three main ways the nutrients are absorbed into the blood stream and these are; passive diffusion, active transport and phagocytosis. Passive diffusion is diffusion of substances across a membrane and the nutrients pass through capillaries and capillary walls meaning they pass through the membrane within the capillary wall. Active transport is when molecules use energy to move from a low concentrated area to a high concentrated area. Inside the small intestines, there is a low concentration of blood therefore the nutrients moves from the low concentration area through the cell membrane to the high concentration of blood in the capillaries and into the blood stream. Phagocytosis is when living cells called phagocytes engulf harmful or infectious cells and get rid of them. The phagocytes engulf the bad chemicals from digested food and get rid of them through waste products. The link between the circulatory and digestive system is through the transfer of nutrients through different types of…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The hepatic portal system is an arrangement of blood vessels between two different sets of tissue. Blood from the stomach, spleen , intestines and pancreas drains into a number of veins which merge to become the portal vein. The vein transports gastrointestinal…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The liver is the largest gland in the human body, it is a vital organ which is essential for human survival. The liver cells serve for over 500 functions within the body, their main functions are to process and store various nutrients from food, the release energy, to clean the blood of toxins and to make proteins. (Britishlivertrust.org.uk)…

    • 3513 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The circulatory system is the body's transport system. It is made up of a group of organs that transport blood throughout the body. The heart pumps the blood and the arteries and veins transport it. Oxygen-rich blood leaves the left side of the heart and enters the biggest artery, called the aorta. The aorta branches into smaller arteries, which then branch into even smaller vessels that travel all over the body. When blood enters the smallest blood vessels, which are calledcapillaries, and are found in body tissue, it gives nutrients and oxygen to the cells and takes in carbon dioxide, water, and waste. The blood, which no longer contains oxygen and nutrients, then goes back to the heart through veins. Veins carry waste products away from cells and bring blood back to the heart , which pumps it to the lungs to pick up oxygen and eliminate waste carbon dioxide.…

    • 1195 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fantastic Voyage

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “Blood flows from the right femoral vein up to the heart. It travels through several different veins to get there, and we will cover those as we get to them. But before we get to that, let me give you a little back story on the blood system. There are about 4.5 to 5 million red blood cells per every cubic millimeter of blood and about 5,000 to 10,000 white blood cells per every cubic millimeter of blood (Thibodeau & Patton, 2006). See that there? That is a red blood cell. As you can see, it is disk-shaped. It has no nuclei and its function is to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from different parts of the body (Thibodeau & Patton, 2006).”…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The liver is a vital organ to the horse, playing a main part in the digestive system. The liver in a horse produces bile, which is essentially used for the absorption of fats, making it easier to digest for the horse. The liver makes a protein called…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The human adult liver weighs about 1.4 kg (3.1 pounds) and is found in the right upper abdomen, below the diaphragm. It takes up most of the space under the ribs and some space in the left upper abdomen, too. Viewed from the outside, a larger right lobe and smaller left lobe can be distinguished. The two lobes are separated by a band of connective tissue that anchors the liver to the abdominal cavity. The gallbladder, where bile is stored, is found in a small hollow on the underside of the…

    • 92 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Blood Flow to the Liver

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages

    3 main veins come together to form the hepatic portal vein and bring blood to the liver: Superior Mesenteric, Splenic, and the Inferior mesenteric.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Role of Energy in the Body M1 Your body needs some kind energy to keep it functioning and working properly; Our bodies inherit the energy they need from food through metabolism. Metabolism is the chemical reactions in the cells that transfer the fuel from food into the energy needed in everyday life to complete daily activities. Energy is needed to get rid of oxygen from certain areas in our bodies and remove it from our bloodstream. Energy comes from;  Fats  Carbohydrates  proteins Without energy stored in our bodies- our bodies would not function properly at all every human being needs energy to survive.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Circulatory System

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    1. Within the circulatory system the liver has a unique anatomic location in that it effectively filters all blood coming from the intestinal tract by way of the portal vein before it is pumped to the general circulation. The liver often sees drugs at their highest concentrations, since it is the first organ perfused by blood containing the drug after absorption from the intestinal tract. Approximately 10-15% of total blood volume can be presented to the liver at any given time. The entire absorbed dose must process through the liver before reaching the systemic circulation. The drug may still be subject to repeat extraction and metabolism by the liver even after it reaches the systemic circulation. This anatomic location within the circulatory system makes the liver prone to chemical-induced toxicity.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics