Rationale
Liver, Liver, Liver. No matter how you say it, it does not sound exciting or melodious. Liver is the most ignored of our major organs. Why? People know a bit about the heart, kidneys, digestive system, sexual organs, sometimes the pancreas and even the gall bladder, but the second largest organ in our body (after skin) is ignored. It is the only organ that receives blood from both the heart and another organ. It is involved in many vital functions in the body. It can regenerate and be transplanted, yet cannot be cultured. All of its cells are almost the same, but it performs more functions than any other organ. Why do physiologists and educators find it so unmemorable? Why when I talk about liver do people think I said kidney? This may be because it is so complex and involved in so many bodily functions. It is part of glucose regulation, cholesterol regulation, digestion of fats, storage of vitamins, is an endocrine and an exocrine gland, stores minerals and detoxifies poisons. Yet, it never gets its own chapter in physiology books and is instead scattered throughout the various systems it can be classified with, such as digestive, exocrine, and endocrine systems.
I teach in a small high school of approximately six hundred students in northern California, just south of San Francisco. We have a diverse population. There is not a majority of any ethnic group. The largest minority population is Filipino. Next largest is Caucasian, then Latino. We have several other groups represented as well, African American, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Tongan are some of the ethnic groups.
Because of the culture of many of our immigrants and first generation Americans, we have a lower alcohol consumption compared to other high schools in the area. We have approximately the same rate of marijuana use, however. We also have comparable amounts of illegal drugs of abuse, over the counter drugs (OTC), and prescription drug abuse.
I teach health to our students and an important part of my curriculum is education about drug abuse, including tobacco, alcohol, illegal drugs, and prescription and OTC drugs. I have found that the students are quite tired of the messages they have received about illegal drugs of abuse throughout elementary and middle school based on the infamous "just say no" approach. They can recite side effects of tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs, but do not believe them. Teachers have sometimes exaggerated these side effects to the point where it contradicts the reality the students see. Also, they do not understand that readily available medications are also drugs and have side effects, some of which are deadly. While I cannot combat all of their boredom with drug education, I can give them specifics about why the various drugs they have learned about are unsafe; I can explain that prescription and OTC medications are drugs; I can emphasize that all drugs have side effects. They also must be aware that drugs like acetaminophen are found in multiple OTC products and it is possible to accidentally overdose by taking several cold or flu symptom relievers. To be informed medical consumers, they must read labels and realize whether or not they are taking drugs that have a cumulative effect. They need to understand that an important job of both themselves and their doctor is to decide if the benefits outweigh the negative effects of the drugs they take. The liver, because it is the organ responsible for converting most drugs to inactive forms, and because it is the organ responsible for elimination of many drugs, is often the first organ to be damaged when drugs are abused.
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