Test Your Knowledge About the Liver

How much do you know about the liver?

1. Going way back to the 17th Century and the Renaissance, William Harvey, the physician who first correctly explained the process of blood circulation in our bodies, described the liver as being:
   a) “The more noble [organ]”
   b) “The more ignoble [organ]”
   c) Paradoxically, both the “noble and ignoble [organ]”
   d) None of the above
2. The liver weighs about:
   a) One pound
   b) Two pounds
   c) Three Pounds
   d) None of the above
3. Which liver disease can be described as “the stealth disease”?
   a) Hepatitis B
   b) Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease
   c) Hepatitis C
   d) None of the above
4. The first successful liver transplant took place in:
   a) New York
   b) Chicago
   c) Baltimore
   d) None of the above
5. The liver is one of the body’s largest organs, and it performs:
   a) Only one function every day
   b) Only two functions every day
   c) Hundreds of functions every day
   d) None of the above
6. The liver is important because it is able to:
   a) Remove harmful substances from the blood
   b) Make bile to help digest fat
   c) Store energy
   d) All three of the above
7. The following estimated percentage of the population in the United States becomes infected with hepatitis A during their lifetimes:
   a) 33%
   b) 10%
   c) 5%
   d) None of the above
8. You can prevent getting fatty liver disease* by:
   a) Maintaining a normal cholesterol level
   b) Eating a healthy diet
   c) Maintaining a healthy weight
   d) All three of the above
9. Let’s compare hepatitis C and HIV:
   a) Hepatitis C and HIV pose an equal threat of infection
   b) Hepatitis C is five times more infectious than HIV
   c) Hepatitis is 10 times more infectious than HIV
   d) None of the above
10. Which famous person referred to his liver (among other organs) when he said: “I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.”
    a) Michael Jackson
    b) Ray Charles
    c) John Lennon
    d) Frank Sinatra

Answers

1. a) “The more noble [organ].” Incidentally, Harvey referred to the spleen as the “more ignoble [organ].”
2. c) Three pounds
3. c) Hepatitis C can be called “the stealth disease” or “the silent epidemic” because even though you may feel perfectly well, it can creep up on you. You could unknowingly be walking around with hepatitis C for 15 years or longer before being diagnosed. More than three million people in the U.S. are affected by hepatitis C—but approximately 75 percent of those infected are unaware they carry the virus
4. d) None of the above. The first successful liver transplant, led by Dr. Thomas Starzl, took place in 1967 at the University of Colorado in Denver, CO.
5. c) Hundreds of functions every day
6. d) All three of the above
7. a) 33%
8. d) All three of the above
9. c) 10 times
10. b) Ray Charles

*Fatty liver disease has been newly renamed to steatotic liver disease

Last updated on January 18th, 2024 at 09:54 am