VM: This can certainly be answered in the affirmative. Too much alcohol, too much poison such as environmental toxins, chemical medicines, heavy metals in teeth or cosmetics, and above all far too much stress and swallowed anger. Add to this overeating with too much fat and meat, and too little liquid a day, with a simultaneous lack of exercise.
The body detoxifies via the liver, intestines, kidneys and especially sweating. Every week sauna would definitely contribute a lot to detoxification.
Is liver disease on the rise, is there an increase over a period of time?
VM: Alcohol-related diseases tend not to increase, as more and more young people are turning to drugs and stimulants instead of getting drunk on alcohol. Also, the fear of losing one’s driver’s license visibly reduces alcohol consumption overall.
But stress-related liver diseases such as exhaustion to the point of burnout, migraines, abdominal complaints of all kinds and liver-related depression are increasing very sharply. Unfortunately, they are not recognized by most physicians as liver-related diseases and thus no specific treatment is given.
What explains the yellowing of the skin and or conjunctiva typical of liver disorders?
VM: When red blood cells are broken down, the so-called blood pigment hemogobin is formed. It is released as yellow-greenish bilirubin from the liver via bile into the intestine.
If the liver is weak or inflamed or if the bile duct is blocked, this yellow pigment remains in the blood and accumulates throughout the body, especially in the skin. In the so-called flow-poor areas such as in the eye and its immediate surroundings, as well as in the backs of the hands and feet, the intense yellow coloration is then best recognized.
What else can be the causes of liver disease?
VM: Too high-fat diet can make fatty liver hepatitis, a congenital degradation disorder of bilirubin is called Meulengracht’s disease, autoimmune diseases of the liver and tumor disease, but these are overall rather rare diseases.
The 7 main functions of the liver
The liver performs the following tasks in our body:
- Detoxification of the blood from toxic metabolic waste.
- Synthesis of sugar from fat, so-called sugar or glycogen stores.
- Processing and storage of fat from food
- Formation of blood proteins = proteins = messengers, clotting factors.
- Build up and breakdown of cholesterol, important building block of all hormones, especially stress hormones and sex hormones.
- Iron and vitamin stores, especially vitamin A and cobalamin = precursor of vitamin B12.
- Formation of bile for fat digestion and detoxification through the intestine.
