questions about the liver

[arlenecarol]

i've been reading the 'dumping' thread and i have a question...

isn't the liver the only organ in the body that can 'regenerate'?

a friend of mine had to have a liver biopsy a couple of years ago.
the doctors went in and took a chunk of her liver and sent it to the
lab...the size of the 'chunk' was about the size of a walnut or so i
was told. her doctor said not to worry, because it would 'grow back'..

it was years ago when i earned a BA in biology but i do recall that
this is accurate..the liver will grow back...

so does this also mean that the liver can 'heal' itself?

is anyone following my question? i hope it's clear enough what
i'm getting at...

maybe if we knew how to do it, we COULD restore the liver's ability
to deal with this disease...yes? no?

arlene

[KickStart101]

Yes, that is what I also learned in Nursing College that the liver does "heal" itself and does grow back what it was missing.(although cancer, cirosis of the liver, extreme damage, etc., the liver cannot fix that). The liver works as it
should in this Disease. It's the Pancreas that is the failing organ. And
nothing can fully fix that except for a new transplant maybe. I hope we are on the same thought track here. :)

[lesley]

I think that I have seen various articles suggesting that new brain cells can be generated in adults (is the brain an organ?) and that there is potential for heart muscle to regenerate.

I think the question here is, is the liver performing correctly and does not need "correcting" or is it doing what is meant to do, but that the cells are not using the glucose correctly? Harold, do you have any thoughts on this?

My doctor has said that part of diabetes control is not only coming back to him three monthly and showing a good overall average, but ensuring that that average is not coming from highs at one end of the day and lows during/at the other end of the day. He wants to see BG readings indicating a stable reading for most of the readings.

He has given me suggestions for altering the dosages I take at various times, ie. I might need more in the morning, less after lunch. I have yet to try this. One of the things he said that was I could do this because my tests indicated no liver damage.

[arlenecarol]

(snipped) One of the things he said that was I could do this because my tests indicated no liver damage.

see what happens? one question gets answered and then i have NEW questions...bear with me..

how is liver damage determined? is the HbA1c test the one that shows liver damage indicators?

arlene

[Harold]

I think the question here is, is the liver performing correctly and does not need "correcting" or is it doing what is meant to do, but that the cells are not using the glucose correctly? Harold, do you have any thoughts on this?For the most part we only hear of "Insulin Resistance" as the cause of Type 2 DM. While it is true our bodies do become accustomed to about any chemical over time and over time it takes more of that chemical to have the same effect. This effect does not completely explain the various degrees of loss of bg control we see in different people and begs for a better explanation. How the body maintains bg control is complex and multifaceted, and any interruption in that control at any point will have the same overall affect. Some day we will view insulin resistance as an affect and not a cause, and I believe we will see Type 2 divided into different groups dependant on where the control system broke down at.

Now for the liver in question. Yes, heard that a healthy person can regenerate a fully functional liver after losing up to two thirds of it. However it is not the only organ in that with help the largest organ has been known to grow back and that would be skin. Does the liver heal itself? To a degree yes all the time an indication of this can be seen in your blood work. Look for AST/SGOT and ALT/SGPT these are enzymes that are produced as the liver replaces worn out or damaged cells. Damaged cells are the ones that have died off early due to processing toxins out of your system or to desease. In the presence of desease or excessive toxins liver cells may come back fatty or fibrous and these cells do not function as normal liver cells. Read somewhere that high glucose levels also contribute to the formation of fatty liver cells, but I don't know that it's true. The liver does have a large role in the control of bg in that it stores the largest amount of glucose in one area, converts fats and protiens to glucose, and gives chemical signals to the pancrease to let it know what it is up to. Which could lead one to conclude that the liver may very well be where the control system broke down and where it needs to be fixed at. However there are many places where this may happen at besides the liver.
a friend of mine had to have a liver biopsy a couple of years ago.
the doctors went in and took a chunk of her liver and sent it to the
lab...the size of the 'chunk' was about the size of a walnut or so i
was told.Just so you know it's only about the size of the exposed eraser on the end of a number 2 pencil if that much.
how is liver damage determined? is the HbA1c test the one that shows liver damage indicators?No the HBA1c shows how much glucose makes up the red blood cells. Liver damage is determined by enzymes and a liver biopsy. They put the sample of the liver under a microscope and look for inflamation, fatty cells and fribrosis.

[arlenecarol]

Harold, you are incredible! thank you my teacher!!

everytime i see my internist, he does a scan of my liver...
don't think anyone's gonna suggest a biopsy for the time being.
could be that i'm on target...at least for this week!! :smartass:

thank you again Harold!!