Spleen Health

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text woodmart_inline=”no” text_larger=”no”]The spleen is an organ in the upper far left part of the abdomen, to the left of the stomach. The spleen varies in size and shape between people, but it’s commonly fist-shaped, purple, and about 4 inches long. Because the spleen is protected by the rib cage, you can’t easily feel it unless it’s abnormally enlarged.

Your beautiful, useful, little spleen is a vital organ found under the ribcage, in the upper left part of your abdomen. According to Western Medicine, your spleen is the largest organ in the lymphatic system, making spleen health crucial. It is sister to your tonsils, adenoids, and thymus. Helpful to your digestion and immune system, your spleen is like a youth hostel for the different aspects of your blood.

Your lymphatic system is a compilation of tissues and organs that rid your body of waste, toxins, and other non-beneficial materials. Your “lymph” is a powerful fluid that contains white blood cells, the little warriors that fight infections. According to Western Medicine, the spleen keeps your bodily fluids in balance, yet it is possible to live without it. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers similar ideas, yet expands upon these premises.

Does Spleen size tell about its health?

Our spleen is a small but hard-working organ hidden behind your stomach and under your diaphragm. It acts as a filter for your blood. Old, damaged, or abnormal red blood cells are caught in a maze of narrow tunnels within the spleen. Healthy red blood cells easily pass through the spleen and continue to circulate in your bloodstream.

The spleen can also filter out certain bacteria or viruses from your blood in support of the body’s immune system. When a disease-causing microorganism enters the bloodstream, your spleen and lymph nodes produce lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell capable of making antibodies to fight infections.

Unlike most other organs in your body, your spleen changes in size throughout your life usually in response to illness or injury. A viral infection, such as mononucleosis, or a bacterial infection, such as syphilis, are among the conditions that can lead to an enlarged spleen.

The size of a normal, healthy spleen can vary considerably from person to person. Your sex and height can also affect its size. In general, an adult spleen is about 5 inches long, 3 inches wide, 1.5 inches thick, and weighs about 6 ounces.

Women tend to have smaller spleens than men, and taller people tend to have larger spleens than shorter people. In a study in the journal Radiology, researchers suggested that aside from men generally being taller than women, men also typically have greater red cell mass than women.

Functions

The spleen plays multiple supporting roles in the body. It acts as a filter for blood as part of the immune system. Old red blood cells are recycled in the spleen, and platelets and white blood cells are stored there. The spleen also helps fight certain kinds of bacteria that cause pneumonia and meningitis.  It has more functions as follows

• Digests information and environmental stimulus
• Assists in the digestion of food and converting it to energy
• Controls the blood
• Controls the muscles and the four limbs
• Influences transformation and transportation
• Connects with the lips and mouth
• Associates with enthusiasm, sadness, and worry
• Participates in digestive processes
• Houses the spirit and intellect
• Influences emotions
• Affects our minds and houses our thinking processes
• Controls our increasing energy (Qi)
• Provides warmth and vitality

Spleen Disorders

• Enlarged Spleen (Splenomegaly): An enlarged spleen, usually caused by viral mononucleosis (“mono”), liver disease, blood cancers (lymphoma and leukemia), or other conditions.

Many different conditions can cause the spleen to enlarge, especially diseases that cause blood cells to break down too quickly. An excess destruction of blood cells, for example, can overwork the spleen, and cause it to enlarge.

Other conditions that cause an enlarged spleen include:

• bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections such as syphilis, tuberculosis, endocarditis, mononucleosis (mono), and malaria
• blood cancers such as Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia, and lymphoma
• liver diseases like cirrhosis
• hemolytic anemia
• metabolic disorders like Gaucher’s disease and Niemann-Pick disease
• a blood clot in a vein of the spleen or liver

When your spleen enlarges, it can’t filter your blood as efficiently as it once did. It may accidentally filter out normal red blood cells and platelets, leaving fewer healthy blood cells in your body. An enlargement of the spleen that leads to the destruction of too many blood cells is a condition called hypersplenism.

An enlarged spleen may not cause symptoms at first. Eventually, it can become painful. If your spleen enlarges too much, it can rupture. The spleen can also become injured or rupture immediately after a hard hit to the abdomen, a rib fracture, or other accident. This can lead to removal of the spleen.

• Ruptured spleen: The spleen is vulnerable to injury, and a ruptured spleen can cause serious life-threatening internal bleeding and is a life-threatening emergency. An injured spleen may rupture immediately after an injury, or in some cases, days or weeks after an injury.
• Sickle cell disease: In this inherited form of anemia, abnormal red blood cells block the flow of blood through vessels and can lead to organ damage, including damage to the spleen. People with sickle cell disease need immunizations to prevent illnesses their spleen helped fight.
• Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count): An enlarged spleen sometimes stores excessive numbers of the body’s platelets. Splenomegaly can result in abnormally few platelets circulating in the bloodstream where they belong.
• Accessory spleen :About 10% of people have a small extra spleen. This causes no problems and is considered normal.

Causes that can affect Spleen health

Many different conditions can cause the spleen to enlarge, especially diseases that cause blood cells to break down too quickly. An excess destruction of blood cells, for example, can overwork the spleen, and cause it to enlarge.

Other conditions that cause an enlarged spleen include:

• bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections such as syphilis, tuberculosis, endocarditis, mononucleosis (mono), and malaria
• blood cancers such as Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia, and lymphoma
• liver diseases like cirrhosis
• hemolytic anemia
• metabolic disorders like Gaucher’s disease and Niemann-Pick disease
• a blood clot in a vein of the spleen or liver

How to diagnose Spleen disorder

Depending on the condition under investigation, disorders of the spleen can be diagnosed using a number of tests, including:

• physical examination
• blood tests
• ultrasound
• computed tomography (CT) scan
• bone marrow biopsy
• other tests to check for underlying disorders.

You may also feel conditions like this if your spleen is weak.

• Pain in the upper left abdomen
• Pain or discomfort in the left shoulder
• Feeling full without eating
• Fatigue
• Frequent infections
• Bloating and gas
• Weak limbs
• Little desire to speak
• Prolonged headache
• Dizziness
• Tired eyes

Treatment for Spleen diseases

Treatment depends on the disorder and its specific cause. For example, if the splenomegaly is caused by particular cancers (including Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia or lymphoma), then treatment will focus on eliminating or controlling the primary disease. Hypersplenism, triggered by cirrhosis of the liver, can be treated with abstinence from alcohol and special dietary modifications. A severely ruptured spleen is usually surgically removed.

The surgical removal of the spleen is called a splenectomy. The body can cope without the spleen, although the person might be more susceptible to infections after the operation. Their blood may also contain odd-shaped red blood cells. In some cases, it is possible to remove only the diseased or damaged parts of the spleen. This allows the remaining healthy portions to keep functioning as normal.

People who have had their spleen removed or have a spleen disorder are at increased risk of infection, most commonly pneumococcal infection.Some vaccines are recommended especially for these people and they should be discussed with the doctor. They are:

• pneumococcal vaccine
• meningococcal vaccines
• haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (recommended in an adult who has close contact with children less than 5 years of age).

Spleen Removal

Your spleen is a small organ located on the left side of your abdomen under the rib cage. This organ is part of your immune system and helps to fight off infections while also filtering damaged and old cells out of your bloodstream. If your spleen needs to be removed, you’ll undergo a surgical procedure called a splenectomy.

Undergoing a spleen removal leaves you with a compromised, or weakened, immune system. Since infections can be more dangerous without a spleen, you may need yearly vaccines and prophylactic antibiotics. Prophylactic antibiotics are used to prevent a bacterial infection from occurring. They aren’t used to treat an existing infection.

Different Reasons for Spleen removal

There are several reasons that your doctor may recommend that you have your spleen removed. These include having:

• a spleen that’s damaged from injury
• an enlarged spleen or ruptured spleen, which can occur from trauma
• certain rare blood disorders
• cancer or large cysts of the spleen
• infection

Blood disorders

Your spleen may need to be removed if you have a severe blood disorder that doesn’t respond to other treatments. Blood disorders of this type include:

• sickle cell anemia
• hemolytic anemia
• idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
• polycythemia vera

Enlarged spleen

A viral infection, such as mononucleosis, or a bacterial infection, such as syphilis, can cause your spleen to become enlarged.

An enlarged spleen traps an excessive amount of blood cells and platelets. Eventually it traps and destroys healthy red blood cells as well. This is called hypersplenism, and it leads to a large reduction of healthy blood cells and platelets in your bloodstream. Your spleen becomes clogged, which then begins to interfere with its functioning. An enlarged spleen can cause anemia, infection, and excessive bleeding. It may eventually rupture, which is life-threatening.

Ruptured spleen

If your spleen has ruptured, you may need a splenectomy immediately because of life-threatening internal bleeding. A rupture may be caused by a physical injury, such as being hit by a car, or by an enlargement of your spleen.

Cancer

Certain cancers such as lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Hodgkin’s disease affect the spleen. These can cause your spleen to enlarge, which can lead to a rupture. The spleen may also need to be removed because of the presence of a cyst or tumor.

Infection

A severe infection in your spleen may not respond to antibiotics or other treatments. This type of infection can lead to a more serious abscess or an inflammation and a buildup of pus. Your spleen may need to be removed to resolve the infection.

Surgeries for Spleen removal

A splenectomy may be performed as a traditional open surgery or as a laparoscopic, or minimally invasive, procedure. You will be under sedation for either procedure.

Laparoscopic splenectomy

This type of surgery is minimally invasive and has a quicker and less painful recovery time than open surgery. In a laparoscopic splenectomy, your surgeon makes just a few small cuts in your abdomen. Then, they use a small camera to project a video of your spleen onto a monitor. Your surgeon can then remove your spleen with small tools. They’ll then stitch up the small incisions. Your surgeon may decide an open surgery is necessary after viewing your spleen on the camera.

Open splenectomy

A traditional open surgery involves making a cut down the center of your abdomen. The surgeon then moves aside other tissues to remove your spleen. The incision is then closed with stitches. Open surgery is preferred if you have scar tissue from other surgeries or if your spleen has ruptured.

Benefits and Risks

Removing your spleen is a major surgery and leaves you with a compromised immune system. For these reasons, it’s only performed when truly necessary. The benefits of a splenectomy are that it can resolve several health issues such as blood diseases, cancer, and infection that could not be treated any other way. Having a ruptured spleen removed can save your life

However it also have risks are as follows

Risks of having any major surgery include the following:

• blood loss during the surgery
• allergic reactions or breathing difficulties from anesthesia
• the formation of blood clots
• infection
• stroke or heart attack

There are also risks associated with the removal of the spleen in particular. These include:

• formation of a blood clot in the vein that moves blood to your liver
• a hernia at the incision site
• an internal infection
• a collapsed lung
• damage to the organs near your spleen, including the stomach, colon, and pancreas
• a collection of pus under your diaphragm

You can live without your spleen. It’s an important organ, but not essential. If it’s damaged by disease or injury, it can be removed without threatening your life. The surgery to remove your spleen is called a splenectomy.

Your lymph nodes and liver can take over many of the spleen’s important functions. Yet without your spleen, you will be more likely to get certain infections. And if you do get sick, it can take longer than usual for you to recover.

Depending on your age and overall health, your doctor will likely recommend that you get vaccinated against infections like these.

• Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib)
• influenza (the flu)
• meningitis
• tetnus, diphtheria and whooping cough (Tdap)
• shingles
• chicken pox
• HPV (human papilloma virus)
• measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)
• pneumonia

Foods for Spleen Health

Well, for starters, it definitely prefers cooked food.  Try stewing or slow cooking foods in a crockpot.

Luckily, making stews and crockpot meals is incredibly easy and very satiating.  Bland carbohydrates, in moderation, like oats, brown rice, and beans are all supportive to good Spleen health.

One of best for Spleen health is Congee (pronounced: kon-jee), pictured above. Congee is a rice porridge that can be made sweet or savory, but the beauty of it is that the ingredients are basically already broken down so your Spleen doesn’t have to work so hard and it can accomplish all of its necessary tasks.

It may seem foreign that the Spleen is such an important organ since Western Medicine does not pay much attention to it, but it actually holds a lot of responsibility with how our bodies function.  Take advantage of the crockpot in your cabinet and make a week’s worth of stew or congee and see how you feel!  You may be surprised with how much your body will thank you.

Eating five small meals per day is healthier than eating three large meals, and adding spleen-friendly foods to your diet can turn your spleen into a heroic warrior.

Spleen aficionados suggest these foods for improving your spleen’s health:

• Sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds
• Seaweed and kelp
• Green tea, jasmine tea, raspberry leaf tea, chai tea
• Walnuts, chestnuts, pine nuts, pistachios Winter squash, carrot, rutabaga, parsnip, turnip, sweet potato, yam, pumpkin
• Legumes like garbanzo beans, kidney beans, adzuki beans, lentils, black beans, and peas
• Grapes
• Pomegranates
• Ginger, pepper, cardamom, onions, garlic, cinnamon, clove, fennel, rosemary, sage, turmeric, thyme, horseradish, cayenne, and nutmeg
• Aloe vera gel and juice
• Instead of heavy sweets, try these less aggressive sweeteners to your diet: cooked fruits, rice syrup, barley malt, molasses, and stewed cherries
• Add a little protein to every meal
• Add a little bit of organic beef or bison to your weekly diet

Harmful foods for spleen

• Winter melon
• Grapefruit
• Cold, raw, and frozen foods
• Alcohol
• Peanuts and products like peanut butter
• Cucumber
• Lettuce
• Bananas
• Avocados Ice in your drinks
• Dairy
• Wheat
• Processed foods and refined flour
• Refined sugar
• Coffee

The spleen is akin to the Earth element and loves Summer through early Fall. Its Ayurvedic dosha is Kapha, which tends to be slow, conscious, thoughtful, careful, and grounded. When we allow ourselves to adopt some of these Kapha attributes during the Summer and Fall, we feed, heal, and nurture our spleens. Sadly, given how overworked our minds, bodies, and lives are, most spleens are not always in balance. In TCM, the condition is called, “Spleen Qi Deficiency,” and it’s characterized by sadness, loose stools, fatigue, confusion, feelings of being overwhelmed, decreased vitality, weakened immunity, poor digestion, and feelings of defeat.

But wait, there’s more! You can protect your spleen’s health with just a few simple changes in diet and behavior. You’ll find 60 total ways to support your spleen within this article. Try these on for size:

• Be mindful about your schedule and related stressors
• Laugh to open the heart, and release tension and toxins
• Pray to inspire hopefulness and positivity
• Meditate to reduce worry, anxiety, or overthinking
• Seek ways to “get over yourself” and reduce negative attitudes
• Fake happiness until you embody aspects of happiness
• Be careful when taking on new projects
• Chew your food slowly and thoroughly
• Eat warm, veggie-abundant soups and broths
• Take breaks
• Pause activities and thinking often
• Try acupuncture and acupressure
• Cuddle your loved-ones often Avoid cold drinks and ice in your beverages
• Honor and express your emotions, especially sadness

How to maintain spleen health?

It’s difficult to protect the health of the spleen. Many causes of an enlarged spleen, such as cancer or blood cell abnormalities may be unavoidable. However, there are a few preventable causes of an enlarged spleen, such as avoiding infections or injuries that could damage it. Here are a few tips:

• Don’t share personal items like silverware, toothbrushes, or drinks with other people, especially if you know they’ve been sick with an infection like mono.
• If you play football or other contact sports, wear safety gear, including padding, to help protect your spleen and other organs from injury.
• Use a condom every time you have sex with a new, untested partner to protect you from sexually transmitted infections.
• If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation to protect your liver and avoid cirrhosis. (Moderate drinking means no more than one drink a day for women, and two for men.)
• Wear your seatbelt whenever you drive or ride in a car.

Conclusion

Though your spleen isn’t a large organ, it plays many important roles in your body. It helps remove old and damaged blood cells, and it produces infection-fighting cells to protect your health. The spleen also makes certain substances that have an important role in inflammation and healing.

Infections and injuries can damage your spleen and cause it to enlarge or even rupture. If the damage is extensive, you might need surgery to remove your spleen. You can live a normal, healthy life without a spleen. But you’ll need to take extra precautions to prevent infections.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]