Digestive System

Anatomy

Digestion
– The process by which food is broken down into smaller pieces so the body can
use them to build and nourish cells and to provide energy
– Involves the mixing of food, its movement through the digestive tract (also
known as the alimentary canal) and the chemical breakdown of larger
molecules into smaller molecules

Major Organs

Mouth & Salivary Glands (Oral Cavity ) has 3 accessory organs ( Teeth,Salivary
Glands, Tongue )
– Food begins its journey in the oral cavity.
– Teeth - chop food into smaller pieces, bone like substance substance
called dentin and covered in a layer of enamel ( hardest substance in
body).
– Salivary glands - moistens the food with salivary amylase (enzyme) turns
starch into simple sugars
– Tongue - pushes food into larynx, made of several pairs of muscles
covered in a thin, bumpy, skin-like layer.
Bolus - Chewed food + saliva

Pharynx
– Aka throat
– Funnel shaped tube connected to the posterior (backside) end of the
mouth
– Passing of masses of chewed food from mouth to esophagus.
– Also plays an important role for respiratory system for airway passage
– Serves 2 functions; passage of FOOD and AIR
– A flap called EPIGLOTTIS acts as a switch to route food into the
esophagus and air into the larynx.

Esophagus
– Muscular tube connecting pharynx to the stomach which is part of
the upper gastrointestinal tract
– Carries swelled masses of chewed food along its length
– At the end of the esophagus is a muscular ring called the Lower
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Esophageal sphincter or cardiac sphincter. ( to close the end of
esophagus and trap food inside stomach ).
– Functions as a channel for food and liquids that have been swallowed
into the pharynx to reach the stomach

Stomach
– A muscular sac located on the left side of the abdominal cavity, inferior to
the diaphragm.
– Acts as a storage tank for food so that body has time to digest large
meals properly
– Stomach secretes hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes that
continue the digestion of food that began in the mouth.
– Hydrochloric Acid - prevents growth of bacteria
– Pyloric Sphincter is a muscular valve that opens to allow food to pass
from stomach to the small intestine

Liver
– Roughly triangular accessory organ
– Located to the right of the stomach
– Just inferior to the diaphragm and superior to the small intestine
– Second largest organ in the body
– Main function : production of bile (bile breaks down fatty acids to aid
digestion) and its secretion into the small intestine
– Also to filter blood coming from the digestive tract
– Also detoxifies chemicals and metabolizes drugs

Galbladder
– Small pear shaped organ located just posterior to the liver
– Used to store and recycle excess bile from small intestine so that it can
be reused for digestion of subsequent meals
– Gallbladder is not essential, removing it will cause no observable problems
with health or digestion

Pancreas
– A large gland located inferior and posterior to the stomach
– About 6 inches long and shaped like short, lumpy snake with its head
connected to the duodenum and its “tail” pointing to the left wall of the
abdominal cavity
– 2 Main functions: an exocrine; helps in digestion of food. An
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endocrine; regulates blood sugar.
– Secretes digestive enzymes into the small intestine to complete the
chemical digestion of foods
– also secretes the hormones insulin and glucagon to control blood
sugar levels throughout the day
– Release Sodium Bicarbonate to neutralized all food entering it.
– Produce trypsin - helps break down large proteins into smaller
proteins

Small Intestine
– Long thin tube about 1 inch in diameter and 10 feet long that is part of the
Lower gastrointestinal tract
– Located inferior to the stomach and takes up most of the space in the
abdominal cavity
– Is coiled like a hose and the inside surface is full of many ridges and folds.
– Folds are used to maximize the digestion of food and absorption of
nutrients
– By the time food leaves the small intestine, around 90% of all nutrients
have been extracted from the food that entered it
– Main function is to absorb nutrients and minerals from food by secretion
of enzymes
– 3 parts
– Duodenum - first and shortest segment of the small intestine
– Receive partially digested food (chyme) and plays a vital role in the
chemical digestion of chyme in preparation for absorption in the small
intestine
– Jejenum - middle segment of the small intestine found between the
duodenum and ileum.
– Most nutrients are passed on to the ileum for further absorption
– Ileum - final and longest segment of the small intestine
– Absorption of vitamin B12 and reabsorption of conjugated bile salts.

Large Intestine
– Long thick tube about 2.5inches in diameter and 5 feet long
– Located inferior to the stomach and wraps around the superior and lateral
border of the small intestine
 – Absorbs water and contains many symbiotic bacteria that aid in the
breaking down of wastes to extract some small amounts of nutrients
– Feces in the large intestine exit the body via the anal canal
– Main Functions; reabsorption of water and mineral ions such as sodium
and chloride
– Formation and temporary storage of faeces
– maintaining a resident population of over 500 species of bacteria
– Bacterial fermentation of indigestible materials
– 4 parts of large intestine
– Ascending Colon - beginning of colon , goes up
– Transverse Colon - middle part of the colon, transports from left to
right
– Descending Colon - down to the rectum
– Rectum - last few Cm - NO REABSORPTION OF WATER
– Colon - to reabsorb water

Physiology

– Digestive system is responsible for taking Whole Foods and turning them into
energy and nutrients to allow the body to function, grow and repair itself.

Ingestion
– First function of the digestive system is ingestion or intake of food
– Mouth is responsible for this function
– Mouth and stomach are responsible for storage of food waiting to be
digested
– storage capacity limits body to eat only a few times each day

Secretion
– The digestive system secretes around 7 liters of fluids daily containing;
saliva, mucus, hydrochloric acid, enzymes and bile.
– Saliva - moistens dry food and contains salivary amylase
– Mucus - serves as a protective barrier and lubricant inside of the
Gastrointestinal Tract
– Hydrochloric acid - helps digest food chemically and protects the
body by killing bacteria present in our food
– Enzymes - are like tiny biochemical machines that disassemble large
macromolecules like proteins, carbohydrates and lipids into smaller
components
– Bile - used to emulsify large masses of lipids into tiny globules for
easy digestion.
Mixing and Movement
– Body uses 3 main processes in movement and mix food
– Swallowing - process of using smooth and skeletal muscles in the
mouth, tongue and pharynx to push food out of the mouth, through the
pharynx and into esophagus.
– Peristalsis - muscular wave that travels the length of the GI tract by
moving partially digested food a short distance down the tract.
– Takes many waves of peristalsis for food to travel from esophagus to
stomach and intestines and reach the end of the GI track
– Segmentation - occurs only in small intestine as short segments of
intestine contract like “hands squeezing a toothpaste tube”
– Helps to increase the absorption of nutrients by mixing food and
increasing its contract with the walls of the intestine.

Digestion
– Process of turning large pieces of food into its component chemicals
– Mechanical digestion is the physical breakdown of large pieces of food into
smaller pieces
– This mode begins with chewing by the teeth and is continued through the
muscular mixing of food by the stomach and intestines
– Chemical Digestion begins in the mouth with the salivary amylase in saliva
splitting complex carbohydrates into simple carbohydrates.
– The bulk of chemical digestion happens in the small intestine thanks to
the action of the pancreas

Absorption
– once food is ready for the body to absorb, it begins with the stomach and
into the small intestine which are densely folded to maximize the surface
area in contact with digested food
– Small blood and lymphatic vessels in the intestinal wall pickup the
molecules and carry them to the rest of the body
– Large intestine is involved in absorption of water and vitamins B and K
before feces leave the body

Excretion
– Final function of the digestive system is the excretion of the waste in a
process called defecation
– Defecation - removes indigestible substance from the body so that they
do not accumulate inside the gut
– Timing of the defecation is controlled voluntarily by the conscious part of
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the brain

Digestive Disorders
– Ulcers, GERD, IBD, Celiac Disease