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Liver: Organs
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The liver is supplied with nutrients from the hepatic artery and the portal vein, which is different from other internal organs. Blood from the heart goes through the aorta and into the hepatic artery. The hepatic artery supplies a large amount of the oxygen and nutrients the hepatocytes use during metabolism. Approximately 1/3 of the blood that flows into the liver comes from this artery.
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In mammals Sir William Flower pointed out that a generalized type of liver exists, from which that of any mammal may be derived by suppression or fusion of lobes. The accompanying diagram of Flower (fig. 4) represents an ideal mammalian liver. It will be seen that the umbilical fissure (u) divides the organ into right and left halves, as in the lower vertebrates, but that the ventral part of each half is divided into a central and lateral lobe. Passing from right to left there are therefore: right lateral (rl), right central (rc), left central (lc), and left lateral (11) lobes. The gall-bladder (g), when it is present, is always situated on the caudal surface or in the substance of the right central lobe.
In 1982, a liver transplant in 11-month-old Jamie Fisk, at what was then the University of Minnesota Hospital, captured national attention. Jamie has gone on to become the world’s longest-living pediatric liver recipient. In addition, the effort to locate a donor for Fisk helped pave the way for passing the National Organ Transplant Act in 1984 that, ultimately, created the national Organ Procurement and Transplant Network.
The adult human liver normally weighs between 1.4 - 1.6 kilograms (3.1 - 3.5 pounds), and it is a soft, pinkish-brown "boomerang shaped" organ. It is the second largest organ (the largest organ being the skin) and the largest gland within the human body. It is located on the right side of the upper abdomen below the diaphragm. The liver lies to the right of the stomach and overlies the gallbladder (which stores bile).
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Researchers now estimate that the liver performs nearly 400 different jobs. It is the body's most important organ, functioning as a living filter to cleanse the system of toxins, metabolize proteins, control hormonal balance, and produce immune-boosting factors. Many of these functions are essential to your overall health, for example, the liver's synthesis of fibrinogen and other blood-clotting factors to protect you when you are injured. However, other liver functions have a direct bearing on your weight loss efforts, and these are the focus of the Fat Flush Plan.
The largest organ in the body is the liver, an indication of its importance in health. It is involved with almost all of the biochemical pathways that allow growth, fight disease, supply nutrients, provide energy, and aid reproduction. Liver cells, which are called hepatocytes, go through thousands of complex biochemical reactions every second in order to perform these myriad functions.
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