Liver

Your liver is a football-sized organ on the right side of your belly, just below your diaphragm (the muscle at the base of your chest that helps with breathing) and protected by your lower right ribs.

The Liver

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• The liver helps you digest food and makes substances your body needs

• The liver is involved in many different processes in your body

• Drinking too much alcohol for a long time can damage the liver

Locating the Liver

The liver is like your body's chemical factory. It makes many important substances including:

• Bile, a digestive fluid that breaks down fats

• Proteins that help your blood clot

• Cholesterol, which your body needs to make certain hormones

Other things the liver does include:

• Storing sugar to release when your body suddenly needs extra energy

• Breaking down drugs, poisons, and other substances so your body can get rid of them

Problems with your liver include:

• Infections such as viral hepatitis

• Alcohol-related liver disease from drinking too much alcohol

• Scarring, called cirrhosis, if your liver is badly damaged by things such as infections, alcohol-related liver disease, or drugs and poisons

Cirrhosis is permanent, but often you have enough healthy liver tissue to keep doing the liver's work. Severe cirrhosis can cause:

• High blood pressure within the liver, called portal hypertension

Many things that damage your liver interfere with how it makes and delivers bile. Problems making and delivering bile can cause your skin and eyes to turn yellow (jaundice) because you have too much of a yellow chemical called bilirubin, which your body uses to make bile.

If your liver is very badly damaged, you may need a liver transplant.