Logical Health with
Doctor Nancy Rebellato
of the Rebellato Health Centre in Sudbury, Ontario
Liver Function and Biochemistry
The liver is an amazing organ, and today, folks, I’m going to give
you an overview of what it does.
First of all, in Chinese medicine, the liver is the seat of anger,
depression, resentment, and suicidal tendencies. Liver toxicity
can produce these symptoms especially in those abusing drugs and
alcohol, but negative emotions can also produce a toxic liver. The
liver, when in excess of these emotions and toxicity, tends to
attack the heart. This is why angry people with severe
constipation and fecal blockage due to liver toxicity can die of a
heart attack!
Now for Western thought: We in the west describe the liver in
terms of its functions of the breakdown of toxic substances
through the cytochrome P450 system, the manufacture of hormones
from the liver’s own cholesterol production, vitamin D metabolism,
role in bile production and fat storage, and more. In fact, the
liver has well over 50 functions and is a critical organ in the
body. Due to the vast nature of the liver I’m only going to touch
on two: hormone production and liver cirrhosis leading to liver
cancer.
Hormone Production
Many people do not realize the impact of the liver on male and
female hormones. The liver actually makes to estrogen and
testosterone from cholesterol. In Chinese medicine, the liver
governs blood and is responsible for the health of the uterus, PMS
symptoms, proper menstruation in women, and prostate health in
men.
In Western medicine it goes like this: Cholesterol is made in the
liver Cholesterol makes progesterone Progesterone makes three
things: Aldosterone which governs blood pressure and water balance
(water retention and ascites), Cortisol governs sleep, and in
women Estrogen causes cells to divide and increase in number while
in men, Testosterone production is regulated through the 5-alpha
reductase enzyme.
Therefore, if the liver is not working properly women can have
hormonal imbalance leading to water retention, high blood
pressure, insomnia, and hot flashes, cyst and fibroid formation,
and mood swings, especially if she is under stress which depletes
progesterone and causes estrogen to be in relative excess of
progesterone. (Progesterone must be in balance with estrogen,
otherwise problems of mood swings, hot flashes, insomnia, low
libido, dysmenorrhea, and miscarriage can occur.) Liver
malfunction also results in chronic constipation, and can
eventually result in liver and/or colon cancer or even breast
cancer and lymphoma.
In men, prostate problems including prostate cancer, is often a
result of long-standing liver problems.
Cirrhosis Leading to Liver Cancer
Liver cirrhosis is most often caused by alcoholism. It is a
situation in which the liver’s ability to break down the alcohol
via phase 1 and phase 2 of the cytochrome P450 system and the
alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme (assuming you have the enzyme) is
overwhelmed either by volume of toxic substance or due to genetic
predisposition of the enzyme being inactivated or simply not
present in certain nationalities such as Natives.
The liver’s capacity to break down the alcohol is surpassed and
storage of toxic substances results. The liver enlarges past the
costal margin (ribs) and the liver parenchyma (cells) become
sclerotic and fatty. The liver begins to function poorly, and over
time, the lymphatic system is affected, constipation in the colon
results and if the liver is not detoxified, cancer will result.
As you can see, the liver is a critical organ. Keeping it healthy
through proper nutrition, exercise and regular bi-annually
detoxification can prevent many health problems and illnesses.
See you next time when we discuss various problems of digestion.
