Liver is one of the most important organs of the human body. Its main functions are three—to provide bile, to store glycogen (or animal starch), and to excrete waste products.
Liver secrets biles (salts and pigments). The bile helps in making the food alkaline, necessary for the proper enzyme action and the emulsification of fats, so as to get assimilated and absorbed in the body.
The digested starches and sugars, when received in the liver, are converted into glycogen and stored in the liver for future use, when the liver has to use it for the breaking-down of the amino-acids formed on the metabolism of proteins.
This is a very useful function of the liver. It breaks down amino-acids into urea together with other nitrogenous wastes of the system, which are finally eliminated from the body through the kidneys in the passing of urine.
Liver disorders happen when an overdose of protein-foods, like meat, etc., is taken in the food and the liver has to work over-load to breakdown the amino-acids.
These disorders are the result of the diseases of the liver—Cirrhosis, the Cancer of liver and Jaundice, etc. Suppressive drug treatments, as in Allopathy, and the use of alcohol, etc. exert load of work on the liver, particularly for their elimination. All this results in the enlargement of liver and allied disorders.
Treatment
The general treatment for all liver troubles is fasting on orange-juice and water for five to seven days. If not easy, a fast with fruits will also do, but for greater periods.
At the end of either fast, milk treatment should be taken for 40 days on milk as advised in the foregoing disease of stomach ulcers. During this period all applications of Nature-cure, like enema in warm water, accompanied by hip-baths daily, should continue.
Jaundice
As said, it is due to the malfunctioning of the liver.
When the passage of bile from liver is obstructed, the intestines do not receive it to complete the digestion work.
The characteristic feature of Jaundice is the yellowing of the skin and also the whites of the eyes, which is due to the presence of bile in the blood. The treatment for Jaundice is the same as described for the ailments of liver.