Liver, liver, liver, how great thou art:ramblings of a science student in mugging mode.

These past few days have been consumed by studying Biochem...lots about fats and the liver. Seriously, I think that our liver is a great multi-tasker. I mean, handling carbohydrates, fats, proteins and urea all at the same time while ensuring that they are sent to the correct places ( i.e. fattyacids/VLDLs to the adipocytes, muscles, and heart; glucose to the brain, and urea to the kidneys for removal)-tough job there. I wonder if the liver ever gets confused. But God has made us so perfectly in His image that I guess, the liver can carry out all these functions perfectly well unless....U have in-born errors of metabolism. And this brings to mind an article that I just read in the StraitsTimes Home section today about a case of a deficiency in the medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase enzyme in a young boy and as a result, he is unable to fully utilise the fat store in his body when his normal glucose store runs out. This means that if one day his mother decides to deprive him of all his sweets and locks him up in a room for being naughty, he will not be able to tap on his store of fats, which is the next alternative source of energy after sugars, for energy. And this implies that his body will turn to the next ( desperate) source of energy-proteins which will mean that his muscles will start degenrating and eventually, he'll become a limp piece of fatty meat. His treatment involves a strict control over his diet and he has to make sure that he does not over-eat. Poor boy. I guess it would mean less hambugers or fried chicken wings and french fries for him. Fortunately, his parents sent him for metabolic screening using some latest technology called tandem mass spectrometry. Apparently, early detection can save one quite a lot of trouble in the form of mental damage or the ultimate tragedy-death. In Singapore, 1 in 5000 are born with such metabolic disorders. So parents, it is most advisable if you allow doctors to carry out the test on your newborns -it's $35-45 at KK and $140 at private hospitals:)

I have another issue to raise pertaining to the article. It carries a glaring scientific mistake! This is how it defines metabolism: " ..a necessary body chemical reaction that converts food into energy."

Firstly, metabolism does not involve only ONE reaction, it is a whole series of MANY chemical reactions that may intersect with common intermediates.

Secondly, it does not just convert food into energy. Uh-uh. Not so simple. More correctly termed, it breaks down food into their basic units and builds it up again when the body is in need of nutrients. In short, metabolism = catabolism (break down) + anabolism ( synthesis). Energy is only released during the breakdown process.



Sigh...And that's all for "Today in Science with the Sigh-teeths-wannabe". Sigh...Hope you all learned something new today. Sigh..Be sure to stay tuned for the next episode, till then...SIGH....

Oh my. I think my brain is fried. Time for my liver to send some glucose to my brain.