Congratulations! – You have given birth to a liver tumor

Congratulations! – You have given birth to a liver tumor
Suzana came to my medical practice seeking help for recurrent discomfort over the area of the liver – meaning the right upper abdomen. She brought along an ultrasound scan of her liver, which showed a lesion in her liver situated near the porta hepatis, which is the part of the liver where the blood vessels and bile ducts enter the liver.

Thankfully this had a benign appearance and according to the radiologist’s report looked like a type of liver tumor called a hemangioma, although it did have an atypical appearance. The patient had been reassured that she did not have a cancerous or malignant tumor of her liver and that it was safe to leave it alone. Nevertheless Suzana continued to experience intermittent discomfort over her liver as well as some indigestion and nausea. Suzana had been on the oral contraceptive pill for 20 years and had recently ceased taking it, as she could not lose weight.

I explained to Suzana that the long term use of oral hormones, such as the oral contraceptive pill, can cause hemangiomas in the liver. A hemangioma is a very vascular tumor made up of a group of enlarged blood vessels and does not become cancerous.

I started Suzana on a liver tonic and a selenium supplement and told her to drink a large glass of raw juice everyday. She was to juice cabbage, red radish, orange, lemon, mint, parsley, basil, coriander, apple and carrot. I also put her on a low carbohydrate diet excluding grains and sugar and told her to eat plenty of raw salads and fruits, legumes, fish, organic eggs, nuts and seeds.

I gave Suzana a request form for a repeat ultrasound scan of her liver in 6 months time and a follow up appointment during which I would review her liver function and symptoms.

Well when Suzana returned 6 months later she told me a fascinating story and one that I had never heard before. She said that one day she experienced quite bad pain over her liver area and had to go to the toilet to have a bowel action. When she looked in the toilet bowel before flushing away her bowel action she was shocked by what she saw. She described a yellow – brown gooey lump of material in the bottom of the toilet bowel that required several flushes of the toilet before it disappeared down the toilet drain. She said the mass in the bottom of the toilet bowl reminded her of molasses and she had never seen this before and said that it was distinct from her feces. After she had passed this gooey gelatinous mass from her bowels she felt much better and over the ensuing weeks she had no further pain over her liver area.

I reviewed her repeat ultrasound scan and lo and behold there was no sign of her liver hemangioma. Her liver scan looked perfectly normal.

My reaction was – wow! Congratulations you have given birth to a liver tumor!

As I always say, of all the organs in the body, the liver is most able to repair and regenerate itself.

Have you had any amazing experiences with healing your liver ?
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The Liver and your State of Mind

We have all heard of the term “lilly livered”, sometimes spelt “lily livered.”

You may remember it from Shakespeare’s play Macbeth or when someone used the term to describe a person who becomes frightened easily.

The ancient Greeks would sacrifice an animal before they went into battle with the enemy, and if the animal’s liver was red it was a good sign; however, if the animal’s liver was pale it was considered a bad omen.

The term Lilly livered is colloquially used to describe someone who -

• Has no courage
• Cannot fight back when attacked
• Spooks easily
• Has "no balls"
  

Metaphorically speaking the liver is the site of anger – in other words it stores anger – thus the term “liverish” is often used to describe a grumpy disgruntled person. I must admit that there is some truth in this because many of my patients feel more cheerful and positive when they improve their liver function.

If a person becomes very frightened or fearful, the body releases large amounts of the hormone adrenalin to prepare the body physiologically for a good fight. Adrenaline causes the blood vessels to constrict, which causes blood to be pushed out of the liver into the systemic circulation so that more blood is available to the heart and muscles. This is obviously needed if you have a good fight on your hands! When blood is taken from the liver during this adrenalin reaction, the liver becomes pale – thus the term “lilly livered” can be used physiologically to describe a frightened person.

It is interesting to think about the emotional state of those with a fatty liver, as in this common condition the liver becomes pale because it is infiltrated with fat. The fat reduces the blood spaces in the liver and because fat is a pale white to yellowish colour this gives the appearance of a “lilly liver”.

Courage and mood is not only influenced by your state of mind; your resistance to stress and what you feel you can cope with, has a lot to do with your physical health.

This curious phrase “lilly livered”, gives us food for thought and the possibility that the foods we eat may influence our ability to cope with stress.

So by taking a powerful liver tonic and eating plenty of liver cleansing foods – such as fresh raw fruits and vegetables, fresh green leafy herbs, fresh raw juices and seeds and nuts, will help us to feel physically and mentally prepared for stress and challenging situations.

Do you find you feel grumpy and moody if you party too hard ?

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