Organs

Organs Vital to Your Health

• Gallbladder
• Liver
• Kidneys
• Colon
• Blood

• Gallbladder - The gallbladder is a small pear-shaped organ that stores and concentrates bile. It is connected to the liver (which produce the bile) by the hepatic duct. It is approximately 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10.2 cm) long and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide.

  Function - is to store bile and concentrate. Bile is a digestive liquid continually secreted by the liver. The bile emulsifies fats and neutralizes acids in partly digested food. A muscular valve in the common bile duct opens, and the bile flows from the gallbladder into the cystic duct, along the common bile duct, and into the duodenum (part of the small intestine).

  Conditions and Diseases of the Gallbladder - sometimes the substances contained in bile crystallize in the gallbladder, forming gallstones. These small, hard secretions are more common in persons over 40, especially in women and the obese. They can cause inflammation of the gallbladder, a disorder that produces symptoms similar to those of indigestion, especially after a fatty meal is consumed. If a stone becomes lodged in the bile duct, it produces severe pain.

• Liver - the liver, the second largest organ (only the skin is larger), is like a sharp-eyed security guard guarding the red velvet rope in front of an exclusive hotel called your Body: It makes sure the right elements get in and the wrong eliminated. The liver enforces its stringent standards for good health using an intricate of highly sophisticated cells designed to synthesize, transform or detoxify nutrients and other chemicals in the blood.

  The liver has the most complicated network of arteries, veins and capillaries of any organ. In fact, a gallon of blood passes through it every 2.6 minutes. The role of all these blood vessels is to bathe the liver cells with toxins, nutrients and other chemicals; the liver cells respond appropriately, excreting bile, synthesizing, breaking down, storing or transporting each element as needed to keep the body healthy and the blood circulating.

  According to the Allegheny General Hospital website, "The anterior surface of the liver is triangular in shape, made of two lobes. The right lobe is the larger of the two, measuring 6 to 7 inches in length. The left lobe is 3 inches in length.

  Ligaments connect the upper surface of the liver to the diaphragm and the abdominal wall and the under surface to the stomach and duodenum. The gall bladder is located on the under surface of the right lobe of the liver. Neighboring organs include the colon, the intestines, and the right kidney."

• Kidneys - humans have two kidneys. They are complex organs that are vital for life. The kidneys' main job is to regulate the amount of water lost from the body. They also get rid of waste products, especially a nitrogen-containing compound called urea. At the same time they hold on to useful substances like sodium and potassium compounds.

  The kidneys regulate your body's water needs and balance the concentration of the blood. About 180 litres of water filters through your kidneys every day, but only about 1.5 litres finally leaves your body as urine. Your kidneys are just under your ribcage above the small of your back. The blood arrives through the renal artery and leaves in the renal vein. The kidneys produce urine which is carried to the bladder along the ureter.

• Colon - one major purpose of the colon is to extract residue coming down from the small intestine, taking any remaining nutritional factors and reabsorbing them through the lining of the colon back into the blood stream. Another major purpose of the colon is to eliminate waste. However, due to the stress of modern living, pollution, poor diet, dehydration, and lack of exercise, our body - including your colon does not operate correctly.

  When your colon works correctly, the transit of food through your body would be less than 24 hours. In some people, this "stool transit time" is 60 to 70 hours, sometimes longer. When functioning correctly, your body should enjoy incredible energy, sound sleep and ease of awakening. Your memory should be good, and your mind vigorous and precise. When the colon does not operate correctly, due to stress factors, poor diet, and/or dehydration, full and complete elimination of waste becomes impaired. This leads to impacted feces and the creation of a putrefied, fermented, encrusted colon lining, which creates toxemia, as we reabsorb BOTH nutrients and vile toxins from the encrustation of the colon lining.

• Blood - the average adult has about five liters of blood living inside of their body, coursing through their vessels, delivering essential elements, and removing harmful wastes. Without blood, the human body would stop working. Blood is the fluid of life, transporting oxygen from the lungs to body tissue and carbon dioxide from body tissue to the lungs. Blood is the fluid of growth, transporting nourishment from digestion and hormones from glands throughout the body. Blood is the fluid of health, transporting disease fighting substances to the tissue and waste to the kidneys.

  Because it contains living cells, blood is alive. Red blood cells and white blood cells are responsible for nourishing and cleansing the body. Since the cells are alive, they too need nourishment. Vitamins and Minerals keep the blood healthy. The blood cells have a definite life cycle, just as all living organisms do. Approximately 55 percent of blood is plasma, a straw-colored clear liquid. The liquid plasma carries the solid cells and the platelets which help blood clot. Without blood platelets, you would bleed to death.

  When the human body loses a little bit of blood through a minor wound, the platelets cause the blood to clot so that the bleeding stops. Because new blood is always being made inside of your bones, the body can replace the lost blood. When the human body loses a lot of blood through a major wound, that blood has to be replaced through a blood transfusion from other people.

  But everybody's blood is not the same. There are four different blood types. Plus your blood has Rh factors which make it even more unique. Blood received through a transfusion must match your own. Patients who are scheduled to have major surgery make autologous blood donations (donations of their own blood) so that they have a perfect match.