Medical Health Tests Articles Liver Tests

The liver is an essential organ in the human body that is responsible for many critical functions. It is instrumental in the synthesis of protein and fat that has been digested. After digestion takes place, the blood with its nutrients passes through the liver where toxic substances are removed. The liver also stores glycogen which is useful for releasing energy as and when required. The liver also produces bile, a fluid that is passed into the digestive system to help with the digestion of fats. As far as alcohol is concerned, when we consume alcohol, it is absorbed into the blood stream. This blood is then filtered through the liver where the alcohol is removed and processed. The liver is only capable of processing a certain amount of alcohol at any given time. This is why a person who is drinking slowly is likely to suffer from very few noticeable effects of alcohol consumption. If the quantity of consumption is higher than the liver can handle, then it passes some alcohol into the blood which then circulates around the body. Read about liver function test results

From the above description, it is clear that the liver is a complicated organ. It performs several different tasks that are all essential for a person to live. The liver can be replaced in an organ transplant procedure, but there is no known cure for a damaged liver. Liver damage could be a result of alcohol consumption or the result of some form of liver disease that causes the cells of the liver to die.

Excessive alcohol consumption could lead to liver cirrhosis, fatty liver disease or alcoholic hepatitis. There are some liver tests for alcohol related problems that can be conducted on a person who is a regular drinker and who is suspected to have some condition related to the liver because of symptoms noticed by the patient’s doctor. The standard liver test is the liver panel test. This test measures many different components in the blood which occur as a result of the proper functioning of the liver. Any variation in these levels points to liver malfunction. Some enzymes in the blood could be used to diagnose liver damage as they exist when the cells in the liver die. There are other liver tests for alcohol which include imaging tests to check for visible damage on the liver including cirrhosis. This liver test could be backed up by a liver biopsy which may be used to analyze the cells of the liver for typical signs associated with alcoholism.