Gastroenterology is the study of the digestive system, with hepatology being a sub-specialty focused on liver disease. Gastrohepatology combines the two fields and recognizes the interconnectedness of the digestive organs. Common diseases include gastroenteritis, pancreatitis, and gallstones. The liver is essential for human life and can regenerate itself, making it a beacon of hope for medical treatment. Common liver diseases include hepatitis, cirrhosis, and drug-induced damage.
The medical field of gastroenterology is the study of diseases of the human digestive system. Of the organs involved, the liver, in part because it is responsible for removing toxic substances from the omnivorous human diet, is the most prone to dysfunction. Hepatology, the study of liver disease, is a sub-specialty. Whether it is an academic discipline in a medical school or in the clinical wing of a private hospital, the two fields are usually combined and abbreviated as gastrohepatology.
For most people, the stomach and small intestine are the first organs that come to mind along the digestive tract. The most serious disease affecting these organs is gastroenteritis. Most often caused by viral contamination of food and water, and commonly misnamed “stomach flu,” the inflamed organs cause diarrhea and dehydration. World estimates from the year 2000 attribute 1.5 million deaths to gastroenteritis, which has long been a leading cause of infant mortality.
Life-threatening diseases also affect other less familiar and more task-specific gastric organs. Gastrohepatology recognizes that digestion is accomplished by an interconnected system of different organs and that a diseased connection can cause systemic digestive insufficiency. Every organ can be affected by external agents, such as microorganisms and toxic chemical compounds. There are unusual hereditary diseases. Complications can arise from both natural organic processes and unnatural cancerous malformations.
The pancreas is both a digestive and an endocrine organ. It produces insulin and other hormones that regulate blood sugar concentration. Type 1 diabetes is a disease of the pancreas. The pancreas also produces and secretes digestive enzymes into the small intestine through a tubular duct; this is crucial for the final breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
The most common serious affliction of the pancreas as a digestive organ is sudden inflammation. There are various causes, including an allergic reaction to a scorpion sting and gallstones. Gallstones are small pebbles of hardened bile that form in the gallbladder, another gastric organ.
Bile, produced by the liver, is stored in the gallbladder. This enzymatic liquid is released into the digestive tract via the biliary tree and bile duct to break down ingested fats. Gallstones are not uncommon, are usually benign, and can pass through the digestive system intact. However, if they grow too large and obstruct the biliary tree or any of its tubular branches, serious damage will be inflicted on the gallbladder, pancreas or liver.
Gastrohepatology focuses most of its efforts on the liver, a large organ essential for human life. Life, for example, is the main producer of proteins, the so-called “building blocks of life”. In a growing human fetus, the liver produces red blood cells; when the bone marrow starts producing red blood cells, the liver takes over the task of destroying the older red blood cells. It also produces the coagulants that allow blood to clot and damaged vessels to repair themselves.
Compared to human digestion, another function of the liver is to recombine the digested components of carbohydrates to create glucose, the sugar that fuels the human body. Vitamins and minerals are stored in the liver. It also breaks down or neutralizes ingested foreign compounds such as alcohol, ammonia, drugs and toxins.
Among the most common liver diseases treated by the field of gastrohepatology are hepatitis, alcohol-induced cirrhosis, and damage caused by drugs. Culprits may include illicit drug abuse and unexpected metabolites resulting from the interaction of two incompatible therapeutic drugs. Toxic levels of common over-the-counter pain relievers can also cause liver damage.
There is a particularly bright beacon of medical hope in the field of gastrohepatology. The liver is the only internal human organ capable of regenerating itself. With only an estimated 20 percent of its fabric and some critical structures intact, it can over time rebuild itself to nearly 100 percent of its original condition. This feature is advancing the treatment of liver disease with increasingly effective donor transplant procedures.
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