Sunday, 23 July 2006

How wierd is the human body?

Very weird!
No this is not going to be a sex-ed lesson, I'm less then qualified! However, the University does think I can tutor Cost Management Systems! Crazy people! Anyway, after feeling ill that time watching Heath and Sarah go through her book of gross illnesses (with images), I knew why I never did biology at school. So, in light of recent events, a lesson on the Liver (have to find some way to balance the sites approach to responsible drinking!).
"The principal roles of the liver include removing toxins and processing food nutrients."
"The most common cause of liver disease is excessive alcohol consumption."
(Vic health)
A lot of people (me!) thought the livers job was just to stop the crap we consume from affecting any other parts of the body, kind of like a big filter. Predominantly, that is correct. However, the Liver also has a job creating protein (Huh - Just got Heaths attention) and processing some food into good stuff for our bodies.
"The characteristic structure and organization of the liver enables it to perform vital roles in regulating, synthesizing, storing, secreting, transforming, and breaking down many different substances in the body. In addition, the liver's ability to regenerate lost tissue helps maintain these functions, even in the face of moderate damage."
According to Janis & Friends, these are the main roles of the Liver:
  1. Regulations, Synthesis, and Secretion.
  2. Storage.
  3. Purification, Transformation, and Clearance.

Check out the webpages for more details, you'll be amazed to find out the liver has a role in cutting down fat, controlling your sugar levels, storing protein and vitamins, sorting out your snot and bile, controling your hormones, watches your acid levels, has a role in your metabolism, and can have an affect on what your skin looks like! Pretty impressive!

All in all, I think the message is that you should look after it, because its job is to look after you!

1 comment:

Rhian said...

Ya'all should check Dr Gunther's live human dissections on SBS Monday nights 10.30pm right after City of Men. It's fascinating, but not for the feint hearted! They use real cadavers. I believe Melz's fave part, however, is the live (nude) model, Dennis. Poor Dennis.