Where Is Your Liver

Everybody knows the liver is an organ we can't live without, but where is your liver? The easy answer is the right upper quadrant of the abdominal cavity. More specifically, if you know how to properly palpate (from the latin, "to touch") below the right rib cage, you will feel your liver. More specifically, if you know where your gallbladder is, the liver is directly in front of it. A healthy liver weighs about three pounds and is reddish-brown in color.

If a liver fails, it's the easiest organ to replace. You only need part of a healthy liver and both the donor and recipient can return to a normal life within two to three months. Despite that, it's an incredibly complex, expensive procedure. Donors have to go through a wide array of tests, it's not as simple as just having matching blood types. They must be healthy and same size or larger than the recipient. Good health is a given since they will be undergoing major surgery to give up part of a vital organ. Their system must be able to withstand the shock.

Knowing where your liver is isn't the important bit. Knowing that you need to take good care of it is paramount. Drinking like a fish is bad for your liver and cirrhosis is nothing you ever want to experience. It's scarring of the liver tissue and a scarred liver cannot work effectively. As the wise ones say with regard to health, "Take good care of your liver and it will take good care of you."