Find
answers to commonly asked questions about liver enzymes.
LIVER ENZYMES
How do the liver cell
membranes get damaged in the first place?
Inflammation
is a common cause of damage to the delicate liver cell membranes. Liver
inflammation
is medically termed Hepatitis (hepato = liver, itis =
inflammation).This has many different causes including long term alcohol excess,
some medications such as long term antibiotics, cholesterol lowering medications
and pain killers, oral synthetic Hormone Replacement,
viral infections
of the
liver such as Hepatitis A, B & C, auto-immune hepatitis, hemachromatosis,
primary biliary cirrhosis, exposure to toxic chemicals such as insecticides &
pesticides & organic solvents & incorrect diet.
Fatty Liver
Fatty liver is just what its
name suggests: the build-up of fat in the liver cells. Although this is not a
normal condition, fat in the liver usually causes no damage by itself. However,
on some occasions it can be a sign that other more harmful conditions are at
work. Fatty liver may be associated with or may lead to inflammation
of the liver. This can cause scarring and hardening of the liver. When scarring
becomes extensive, it is called cirrhosis, and this is a very serious condition.
A physical examination that
reveals an enlarged liver without any other symptoms suggests fatty liver. The
diagnosis may be confirmed by performing a liver biopsy, in which a long hollow
needle is used to obtain a small tissue sample for examination under a
microscope.
The mere presence of excessive
fat in the liver is not a serious problem. Treatment aims at eliminating the
cause or treating the underlying disorder. Repeated liver injury from toxic
substances such as alcohol may eventually progress from fatty liver to
cirrhosis.
CAUSES:
Obesity, Diabetes Mellitus, high blood triglycerides, heavy use of alcohol,
Vitamin A toxicity, drugs, and possibly other unknown causes.
Liver Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a potentially
life-threatening condition that occurs when scarring damages
the liver. This scarring (also called fibrosis)
replaces healthy tissue and prevents the liver from working normally. Cirrhosis
usually develops after years of liver inflammation.
In the United States, the major
causes of cirrhosis are drinking excessive amounts of alcohol over many years or
having certain forms of viral
hepatitis (mainly hepatitis B or C). There are several other causes of cirrhosis
that are less common and some people have cirrhosis without an obvious cause
(cryptogenic cirrhosis).
As cirrhosis develops, scar tissue
surrounds normal liver cells, making the tissue bumpy, or nodular. This nodular
liver tissue can block the bile ducts or make them swollen, which can cause bile
to back up in the liver and bloodstream.
Scar tissue also may block
blood flow through the liver. Obstruction of blood flow can cause the veins that
bring blood to the liver to become larger and may lead to high blood pressure in
the veins that flow from the intestines to the liver (portal hypertension).
CAUSES:
Alcoholic liver disease; Chronic Hepatitis B, C, and D; Autoimmune Hepatitis;
Inherited diseases; Blocked bile ducts; Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH);
Drugs, toxins, and infections.
NOTE:
If certain specific systemic enzymes are depleted or greatly reduced, then
liver functions may be an a unbalanced state, which can lead to serious liver
related problems.
Doc T
Segmental spinal
osteophytosis in visceral disease.
Burchett GD J of the American Osteopathic Association 1968; 67(6):
675.
Using
radiography, Burchett examined sixty-one hospital patients and found that in
88% of the patients with gallbladder disease there was lipping from T7-T10;
spinal osteophytes (T9-T11) were found in 82% of those with stomach disease.
Many sufferers of pancreatic disease had segments T5-T7 involved and 31% of
patients with duodenal disease had osteophytes at T9-L2.
Postmortem studies of viscerosomatic
relationships. Snyder GE, Chance JA, Clarey JK J of the American
Osteopathic Association 1966(5) 65:995.
90% of
patients with gallbladder disease (on post-mortem examination) had exostoses
of T7 or T8.
The Evidence of the association, in dissected
cadavers, of visceral disease with vertebrae deformities of the same
sympathetic segments. Winsor H. Sympathetic segmental
disturbances—II. The Medical Times, Nov. 1921, 49:267-271 and The
Prevalence of minor curvatures and deformities of the spine in man. Also in
other vertebrates. appeared in The Medical Times, Oct.1921,
pp.237-239.
All five
cases with gallstone disease had spinal misalignments in the same spinal
area.
A patient was
diagnosed with crystals in his gallbladder, a pre-gallstone condition.
Spinal examination found T-7 subluxated and segment was adjusted. His
gallbladder became inflamed shortly thereafter and remained that way for
about two weeks. He was very uncomfortable. When he next had his gallbladder
checked his internist was surprised to find that the crystals were gone.
Inflammation may have been a curative response.
Acute cholecystitis and colitis (report of a
case). Denslow, JS Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
March 1933 p. 285
This is the
case report of a woman, aged 30 admitted to the hospital with severe pain
radiating along the 7th and 8th ribs. Treatment
consisted of deep pressure applied over 7th and 8th
dorsal vertebrae which gave almost immediate relief.
Diseases of the biliary tract. Burns A.
Osteopathic Annals 6:2 Feb. 1978
Dysfunction of the biliary and
digestive system, with its related somatic alteration, is amenable to
modification toward health by treatment of the related somatic dysfunction.
Treatment of the somatic dysfunction can be accomplished by many
manipulative procedures directed to the affected tissues. Such somatic
treatment results in normalization of the related neural, vascular, and
lymphatic components that favor return to more normal function and
well-being.
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additional information about liver enzymes.
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