When it comes to the human body, it can be known that the largest organ that is present within the body is the liver. This organ can be found in the upper part of a persons abdomen located to the right. Typically the liver weighs approximately 2 and a half to 3 and a half pounds in most fully grown adults. The liver plays a great part within the body; it carries out over 500 various functions. Just a few of the daily tasks it undergoes are storing the body’s vitamins, carbohydrates and removing any waste from its bloodstream. Another function of the liver is to produce bile. This is a very good way of helping the body digest its food and the bile also contributes to making the body’s faeces brown. The liver helps aid with the metabolism of the carbohydrates and proteins, along with regulating the amount of sugars that are aloud in the individual’s bloodstream.

This organ also changes the body’s fats into cholesterol. The most important aspect and duties that the liver can perform are the removal of any drugs that may be present. These could be poisons or even old red blood cells that no longer have a purpose. The liver produces chemicals called heparin that contribute to our blood clotting. This is obviously essential as should we cut ourselves we would inevitably bleed to death without it. Without knowing all of this, would you of considered your liver to play such an important role within your body? For people that are unaware of what the liver does and just how important it can be to take care of it, they may tend to abuse it without even know they are doing it. This can be done by drinking excessively.

There are a number of diseases and disorders that can unfortunately affect the functioning of the liver. Hepatitis A – this is caused by a virus and can be passed by food and drink. The individual may suffer from sickness, fevers and jaundice. Hepatitis B is more of a serious strain and is spread by sexual intercourse and already infected blood. Cancer, gall stones, heart failure, defect of the immune system and in some cases the cause can be unknown as each disease affects the liver in a different way. Jaundice can cause the person to suffer from a ‘yellow’ appearance to the skin, this can be relatively harmless, and however treatment should be sought from a trained medical practitioner. As people get older you may encounter more health issues, if you were to suffer from some sort of liver failure how would you be able to maintain your everyday life? By this I mean you may not be working, so how would you afford to pay for your bills and everything else? If you look into taking out a form of Critical Illness Cover and should you be diagnosed with a form of liver failure whilst the policy was in force, then you would typically be paid out the benefits of the policy that you had taken.