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Diseases of the liver are the field of hepatology.
The liver is designed to cope with all sorts of chemicals, including
toxins. One of the commonest toxins that humans ingest is alcohol.
In small doses alcohol has pleasurable effects and can even have
health benefits by reducing cardiovascular disease. But large doses
of alcohol over a prolonged period can damage many body systems.
As our main detoxifier, the liver is particularly affected by alcohol
overdose. Although the liver has impressive powers of self-regeneration,
these are eventually overwhelmed and the intricate fine structure
of the liver begins to disintegrate in the condition of cirrhosis,
a type of chronic scarring of the liver.
The pancreas has good cause to be regarded as
the most dangerous organ in the body. It produces a whole variety
of highly reactive and digestive enzymes to break down food. However,
if these enzymes are released in the wrong place, they can just
as easily digest our own bodies. For example, inappropriate activation
of the enzymes within the pancreas itself causes acute pancreatitis,
a condition with a mortality rate of about 50%.
Diseases of the kidney are the field of
nephrology. Many diseases can damage nephrons, the functional units
within the kidney. We can make do with only 20% of our nephrons,
but after that kidney failure develops. Over the last 40 years,
kidney transplantation has revolutionised the outlook for patients
with chronic kidney failure. Currently the main problem is a lack
of suitable donors. This is one argument in favour of moving to
an ‘opt out’ system of organ donation, rather than the
current ‘opt in’ system which operates in the UK.
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