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Frequently Ask Questions
About Liver
a What is Liver?
  Liver is the largest organ in the body situated in right upper quadrant of abdomen under the diaphragm and is protected by ribs from the above.
a What are the main functions of liver?
  Liver is a very important organ in the body and some of its important functions are as follows:
  • Reservoir of blood: large amounts of blood are stored in the blood vessels of liver.
  • Blood cleanser: After digestion the food goes to liver via portal veins, which may contain a number of bacteria. These bacteria are removed from the blood by the Kupffer cells and the macrophages present in the liver.
  • Storage of Glucose in the form of glycogen.
  • Metabolism of fat.
  • Formation of bile
  • Detoxification of toxins
General Questions Go to top
a What is toxin?
  Toxins are the substances, which are harmful to the body.
a How toxins affect liver?
  Toxins may injure liver cells directly or may cause obstruction to the flow of bile in the liver. Alcohol, drugs, pesticides etc act directly on the liver cells producing toxic effects on liver while bacteria & viruses produce toxins that produce ill effects on the liver.
a Can my liver detoxify toxins? To what extent?
  Yes, one of the main functions of liver is to detoxify toxins. But if the amount of toxin consumed is large or it is consumed continuously for a long time then liver might not be able to detoxify toxins. Certain factors like individual genetic make up; age and sex also contribute in liver’s ability to detoxify toxins.
a What are the causes of accumulation of toxins?
  Some of the common causes of accumulation of toxins are:
  • Inability of liver to cleanse toxins,
  • Amount and duration of toxin consumed is large and
  • Elderly individuals
a How can I keep my liver healthy? Any diet regimen?
  You can keep your liver healthy by:
  • Limiting the consumption of saturated fat in diet.
  • Keeping weight with in normal limits.
  • Avoiding the consumption of hepato-toxic drugs (Paracetamol, weight reducing drugs).
  • Resorting to light and vegetarian diet
  • Abstaining or avoiding alcohol consumption.
a How can Dipana help me in keeping my liver at optimum level?
  Dipana is a judicious blend of hepatoprotective herbs combined in right proportion. It helps by protecting liver cells from the injurious effect of toxins. By improving the flow of bile from the liver and it hastens the excretion of toxins, prevents the stagnation of bile in the gall bladder and hence gall stone formation. By restoring the hepatic functions early it helps in speeding up the process of recovery.
About Hepatitis Go to top
a What is hepatitis?
  Hepatitis is the inflammation of liver cells.
a What are the causes of hepatitis?
  Viruses, toxins and alcohol are some of the common causes of hepatitis.
a What are the symptoms of hepatitis?
  Loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, distaste and jaundice are some of the common symptoms.
a How is hepatitis diagnosed?
  History of any medication with known hepato-toxic drugs, alcohol should initially be investigated. In the absence of these, viral infections like Hepatitis A, B, C, D and E cause hepatitis. Plasma aminotransferase, Alkaline Phosphatase, Serum bilirubin, Prothrombin time, and certain specific tests are employed to establish the diagnosis. Consult your doctor whenever suspect hepatitis.

a What is the treatment of hepatitis?
  If suspected to be due to drugs or alcohol, stop using them immediately. There is no specific treatment available for viral hepatitis. A number of botanicals like Picorrhiza kurroa, Andrographis paniculata, Solanum nigrum, Phyllanthus niruri have found to be effective in the treatment in the treatment of hepatitis.
a Does Dipana help in the treatment of hepatitis?
  Yes, Clinical trials have proven Dipana is effective in the treatment of drug induced hepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis and viral hepatitis. It is judicious combination of herbs known to possess hepato-protective and anti-viral activities.
a What is cirrhosis of liver?
  Replacement of healthy liver tissue by scar is called cirrhosis of liver
a What are the symptoms of cirrhosis of liver?
  Some of the common symptoms are weakness, fatigue, muscle cramps, weight loss, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, upper abdominal discomfort and gaseous abdomen.
a How is cirrhosis of liver diagnosed?
  Ultrasonography/ MRI of the upper abdomen help in diagnosing cirrhosis of liver. Apart from these various Liver Function tests are used to diagnose cirrhosis of liver.
a What is the treatment of cirrhosis of liver?
  There is no specific treatment for cirrhosis of liver. A number of herbs with known hepatoprotective action may be useful in the treatment of cirrhosis of liver.
Dipana helps by protecting liver cells from the injurious effects of various toxins and also by improving the flow of bile helps in removing the toxins from the liver.
a How does the Dipana help in hastening recovery in chronic diseases?
  Majority of the drugs are metabolized in the liver. Liver plays an important part in providing immunity. Improving the functioning of liver certainly helps in speeding up recovery in the chronic diseases as well as after operations when the immunity is low. Dipana helps in hastening recovery by reducing the chances of drug accumulation in the body, saving liver from the injurious effects of drugs and by improving the immunity.
a What are reasons of loss of appetite?
  Loss of appetite is the commonest symptom of liver diseases. Other common causes of loss of appetite are tuberculosis and cancer. In the absence of any other symptom suggestive of these diseases, liver diseases cause loss of appetite more frequently.
a How Dipana is effective in improving appetite?
  By improving the liver functions it helps in improving appetite and digestion. Zingiber officinale, one of the ingredients of Dipana, particularly helps in improving appetite.
About Fatty Liver Go to top
a What is fatty liver, and what are the known causes of fatty liver?
  Collection of fat in the form of neutral fat i.e. triglycerides in the liver is called fatty liver. This is broadly classified into two categories:
  • Alcoholic Fatty liver Disease and
  • Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
As the name suggests alcoholic fatty liver is due to regular consumption of alcohol. Non-alcoholic fatty liver is generally due to obesity, diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridaemia  (increased levels of triglycerides).
a How do I know if I have fatty liver?
  This is a very silent condition and majority of the patients are detected accidentally during MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) or USG (Ultrasonography) examination done for some other complaint. It may cause discomfort in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, indigestion, nausea and fatigue. Individuals with hypertriglyceridaemia, obesity, and diabetes mellitus should get MRI or USG done to detect it especially they have abdominal obesity. Blood examination generally shows normal findings.

Individuals with history of regular consumption of alcohol may show modest rise in the two enzymes released from liver, AST and ALT and may complain of fatigue, loss of concentration, memory more often than others.  If the above-mentioned symptoms are present individual should get investigated for fatty liver.
a How common is fatty liver?
  More than 60 % of the regular alcoholics have fatty liver. Although no specific answer can be given to it but obese individuals with a history of diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridaemia are more likely to have fatty liver.
a Can fatty liver be reversed?
  Yes it can be corrected. Some of the measures to reverse fatty liver are as follows:
  • Abstinence from alcohol,
  • Reducing the aggravating factors like obesity, high cholesterol diet 
  • Regular exercise can help in reversal of fatty liver.
Certain botanicals like Picorrhiza kurroa, which is the major constituent of Dipana, help in improving the flow of bile from the liver and gall bladder and hence help in reversing the fatty liver by excreting cholesterol from liver through bile.
a What is alcoholic liver disease and what liver damage they cause?
  Alcohol is directly toxic to the liver. Continous use of alcohol leads to fatty liver and if the consumption of alcohol continues unabated it progresses to Alcoholic hepatitis and consequently to cirrhosis of liver (shrinking of liver due to replacement of healthy tissue by fibrous tissue).
a What is safe level of alcohol in males and females?
  No definite answer can be given to this answer due to individual genetic variations. Social, nutritional, sex. immunologic and host factors have all been postulated to play a part in the development of alcoholic liver diseases.
a What will happen if a person with alcoholic liver disease continues to drink?
  The first effect of alcohol consumption is fatty liver and if the individual stops drinking at this phase the condition is reversible. But if the individual after developing fatty liver continues to drink and the fatty liver moves to alcoholic hepatitis, the prognosis becomes poor and the individual develops jaundice, the transaminase enzymes start rising, the various functions of liver become compromised and gradually the size of liver start shrinking leading to cirrhosis of liver. In this stage ascitis (Collection of fluid in the abdomen), bleeding per rectum, haemetemesis (Blood in vomitus) associated with signs of mental disorientation like loss of concentration, memory and disorientation in speech may develop making the prognosis poor.
a What is the effective treatment for alcoholic liver disease?
  The first and the foremost thing to do is to stop drinking immediately once the alcoholic liver disease is diagnosed. There are certain botanicals known to help in treating this condition like Picorrhiza kurroa, Solanum nigrum, Andrographis paniculata and Tinospora cordifolia. These are present in Dipana. By their strong anti-oxidative properties they help in saving liver cells from the injurious effect of alcohol.

Clinical trials of Dipana in patients suffering from alcoholic hepatitis have shown encouraging results.   Dipana under the supervision of doctor with constant monitoring of various bio-chemical parameters helps in treating Alcoholic hepatitis.
a Can I detect myself if I am having alcoholic liver disease? How diagnosis is done?
  if you are a regular drinker of alcohol and start feeling fatigue easily, loss of appetite, indigestion or feel difficulty in concentrating or memorizing or have jaundice get your liver functions tests and USG for upper abdomen done to detect alcoholic liver disease.
Bile and Gall Bladder Go to top
a What is bile and where is it produced?
  Bile is the secretion of liver. Hepatocytes, the cells of the liver and the canaliculi of the liver secrete various components of bile. This bile is further stored in the gall bladder. Bile constitutes bile salts, bilirubin, cholesterol, lecithin, electrolytes and water.
a What is gall bladder?
  It is a small pear-shaped organ situated under the liver in the right upper quadrant of abdomen.
a What are the main functions of bile?
  The main functions of bile are:
  • Helps in the digestion of fat by emulsifying (breaking it to very small fragments) so that it can be acted upon the fat digesting enzymes and get digested.
  • Absorption of digested fat.
  • Excretion of cholesterol and bilirubin (breakdown product of blood).
a What are the common problems of gall bladder?
  Inflammation of the wall of the gall bladder (Cholecystitis) and the presence of stones (Gallstones) in the gall bladder are the two common problems of gall bladder.
a What are gallstones and what are the causes of gall stone formation?
  These are small hard pebble like structures present in the gall bladder. Obesity, hypercholestremia, infection, infestation with Ascariasis and stagnation of bile in the gall bladder are some of the important causes of gallstone formation.
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What are the symptoms of gall bladder diseases?
  The common symptoms associated with diseases of gall bladder are:
  • Feeling of fullness after food, belching and heartburn- predominantly after large and fatty meal.
  • Pain in the upper part of the abdomen, referring to the back or between shoulder blades.
  • Jaundice if the stone is large and is in the common bile duct (drains bile from gallbladder to small intestine) causing obstruction to the flow of bile.
a What can I do to help prevent gall bladder problem?
  Obese individuals especially females are more likely to have gallstones; they should try to keep bodyweight under control. Stagnation of bile in gall bladder can predispose to gallstone formation. Various herbal preparations like Dipana help in secreting bile from the gall bladder thus preventing gall stone formation. All infections should be treated properly under the guidance of physician.In case of doubt of infestation with Ascariasis (round worm) proper treatment for that is highly recommended.
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