Your liver depends on you to take care of it… so it can take care of you. It serves as your body’s engine, pantry, refinery, food processor, garbage disposal, and “guardian angel.”
The trouble is, your liver is a silent partner; when something’s wrong it does not complain until the damage is far advanced. So it needs your help every day to keep it healthy and hepatitis-free. To do that, you need to eat a healthy diet, exercise, get lots of fresh air, and avoid drugs, alcohol and environmental polutants that can cause liver damage.
Sadly, people generally have little knowledge of the complexities and importance of the thousands of vital functions their livers perform 24 hours a day. The liver is about the size of a football – the largest solid organ in your body.
The liver plays a vital role in regulating life processes. Before you were born, it served as the main organ of blood formation. Now, its primary functions are to refine and detoxify everything you eat, breathe, and absorb through your skin.
Quite simply, your liver is your body’s internal chemical power plant, converting nutrients in the food you eat into muscles, energy, hormones, clotting factors and immune factors. It stores certain vitamins, minerals (including iron) and sugars, regulates fat stores, and controls the production and excretion of cholesterol. The bile, produced by liver cells, helps you to digest your food and absorb important nutrients.
Your liver neutralizes and destroys poisonous substances and metabolizes alcohol. It helps you resist infection and removes bacteria from the blood stream, helping you to stay healthy.
Arguably, your liver isn’t just your silent partner – it’s your best friend.
This online Hepatitis Risk Assessment is designed to determine an individual’s risk for viral hepatitis and asks questions based upon CDC’s guidelines for testing and vaccination. The Hepatitis Risk Assessment allows individuals to answer questions privately and print their recommendations to discuss with their doctor. Take this 5 minute assessment developed by the CDC and get a personalized report.