DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

The digestive system is the set of organs (mouth, pharynx, esophagus,

stomach, small intestine and large intestine), and adjoining glands
(salivary glands, pancreas and liver), responsible for the digestion process,
ie The food so that it can be absorbed and used by the cells of the
organism. The function performed is transport (food), secretion (digestive
juices), absorption (nutrients) and excretion (through the defecation
process). The process of digestion is the same in all monkey gastric
animals: transforming carbohydrates, lipids and proteins into simpler
units, thanks to the digestive enzymes, so that they can be absorbed and
transported by the blood. The organs that form this system are:

1.-MOUTH.- The mouth is the first organ of the digestive system and,
therefore, also of digestion. There are two processes: the mechanical
function or chewing, and the chemical function or insalivation in which the
teeth and the tongue are sequentially occupied. The salivary glands
secrete saliva containing enzymes such as salivary amylase or ptyalin,
which begins to digest starch from food and transforms it into smaller
molecules.

2.-Pharynx.- The pharynx is a tubular structure that helps to breathe and is

located in the neck and lined with mucous membrane; Connects the nose
and mouth with the larynx and esophagus respectively, and through it
pass both air and food, so it is part of the digestive as well as respiratory.
In the human being measures about thirteen centimeters.

3.-ESOPHAGUS.- The esophagus is a duct or muscle membranous that

extends from the pharynx to the stomach limits with this through a
curvature called cardias. It reaches 25 cm and has a structure formed by
two layers of muscles, which allow contraction and relaxation downward
of the esophagus. These waves are called peristaltic movements and are
the ones that cause the food to advance to the stomach. It is just a passing
area of the bolus.
4.-STOMACH.- The stomach is an organ in which food accumulates. The
cardia is the border between the esophagus and the stomach and the
pylorus is the border between the stomach and the small intestine. In an
individual it measures approximately 25 cm from the cardia to the pylorus
and the transverse diameter is 12 cm.

He is responsible for making the chemical transformation of food as the

gastric juices transform the bolus of food that had previously been
mechanically transformed (from the mouth) are transformed into chyme.

In the stomach is performed the digestion of: Proteins through Pepsin and
Lipids. Digestion of carbohydrates does not occur. Other functions of the
stomach are the elimination of bacterial flora that comes with food by the
action of hydrochloric acid.

5.-SMALL INTESTINE.- The small intestine begins in the duodenum (after

the pylorus) and ends in the ileocecal valve, where it joins the first part of
the large intestine. Its length is variable and its caliber decreases
progressively from its origin to the ileocecal valve and measures 6 to 7
meters in length. In the small intestine the nutrients of the already
digested foods are absorbed. The small intestine has numerous intestinal
villi which increase the surface area of intestinal absorption of nutrients
and proteins. In the small intestine, mainly to the duodenum, a variety of
secretions are poured, such as bile which aid in the digestion of fatty acids
and pancreatic juice containing proteases and amylases that act on
proteins and carbohydrates. The final mixture constitutes the kilo that will
pass into the large intestine.

6.-INTENSIVE THICKNESS.- The large intestine starts from the ileocecal

valve in a fundus called blind where the vermiform appendix leaves and
ends in the rectum. Its length is variable, between 120 and 160 cm. After
the blind, the large intestine is called ascending colon with a length of 15
cm, to give rise to the third portion that is the transverse colon with an
average length of 50 cm, originating a fourth portion that is the
descending colon with 10 cm in length.
Finally is the sigmoid colon, rectum and anus. In the colon there are
bacteria such as Escherichia coli that feeds on cellulose and synthesizes
vitamin K and B, which are absorbed by the intestinal mucosa and pass
into the blood together with salts and water not assimilated in the small
intestine.