Anatomy of the Digestive System If a human adults digestive tract were stretched out, it would be 6 to 9 m (20to 30 ft) long.

In humans, digestion begins in the mouth, where both mechanical and chemical digestion occur. The mouth quickly converts food into a soft, moist mass. The muscular tongue pushes the food against the teeth, which cut, chop, andgrind the food. Glands in the cheek linings secrete mucus, which lubricates the food,making it easier to chew and swallow. Three pairs of glands empty saliva into themouth through ducts to moisten the food. Saliva contains the enzyme ptyalin, whichbegins to hydrolyze (break down) starcha carbohydrate manufactured by greenplants.Once food has been reduced to a soft mass, it is ready to be swallowed. Thetongue pushes this masscalled a bolusto the back of the mouth and into thepharynx. This cavity between the mouth and windpipe serves as a passageway bothfor food on its way down the alimentary canal and for air passing into the windpipe. The epiglottis, a flap of cartilage, covers the trachea (windpipe) when a personswallows. This action of the epiglottis prevents choking by directing food from thewindpipe and toward the stomach. Mouth The mouth plays a role in digestion, speech, and breathing. Digestion beginsw h e n food enters the mouth. Teeth break down food and the muscular tonguep u s h e s f o o d b a c k t o w a r d t h e p h a r y n x , o r t h r o a t . T h r e e s a l i v a r y g l a n d s t h e sublingual gland, the submandibular gland, and the parotid glandsecrete enzymesthat partially digest food into a soft, moist, round lump. Muscles in the pharynxswallow the food, pushing it into the esophagus, a muscular tube that passes foodi n t o t h e s t o m a c h . T h e e p i g l o t t i s p r e v e n t s f o o d f r o m e n t e r i n g t h e t r a c h e a , o r windpipe, during swallowing.

Esophagus The presence of food in the pharynx stimulates swallowing, which squeezesthe food into the esophagus. The esophagus, a muscular tube about 25 cm (10 in)long, passes behind the trachea and heart and penetrates the diaphragm (muscular wall between the chest and abdomen) before reaching the stomach. Food advancest h r o u g h t h e a l i m e n t a r y c a n a l b y m e a n s o f r h y t h m i c m u s c l e c o n t r a c t i o n s (tightenings) known as peristalsis. The process begins when circular muscles in thee s o p h a g u s w a l l c o n t r a c t a n d r e l a x ( w i d e n ) o n e a f t e r t h e o t h e r , s q u e e z i n g f o o d downward toward the stomach. Food travels the length of the esophagus in two tothree seconds.A circular muscle called the esophageal sphincter separates the esophagusand the stomach. As food is swallowed, this muscle relaxes, forming an openingt h r o u g h w h i c h t h e f o o d c a n p a s s i n t o t h e s t o m a c h . T h e n t h e m u s c l e c o n t r a c t s , closing the opening to prevent food from moving back into the esophagus. Theesophageal sphincter is the first of several such muscles along the alimentary canal. T h e s e m u s c l e s a c t a s v a l v e s t o r e g u l a t e t h e p a s s a g e o f f o o d a n d k e e p i t f r o m moving backward. Stomach The stomach, located in the upper abdomen just below the diaphragm, is asaclike structure with strong, muscular walls. The stomach can expand significantlyto store all the food from a meal for both mechanical and chemical processing. Thestomach contracts about three times per minute, churning the food and mixing itwith gastric juice. This fluid, secreted by thousands of gastric glands in the lining of the stomach, consists of water, hydrochloric acid, an enzyme called pepsin, and mucin (the main component of mucus). Hydrochloric acid creates the acidic environment that pepsin needs to begin breaking down proteins. It al s o k i l l s microorganisms that may have been ingested in the food. Mucin coats the stomach,protecting it from the effects of the acid and pepsin. About four hours or less after ameal, food processed by the stomach, called chyme, begins passin g a little at atime through the pyloric sphincter into the duodenum, the first portion of the smallintestine. Liver The liver is the largest internal organ in the human body, located at the top of the abdomen on the right side of the body. A dark red organ with a spongy texture,t h e liver is divided into right and left lobes by the falciform ligament. The l i v e r performs more than 500 functions, including the production of a digestive liquidcalled bile that plays a role in the breakdown of fats in food. Bile from the liverpasses through the hepatic duct into the gallbladder, where it is stored. Duringdigestion bile passes from the gallbladder through bile ducts to the small intestine,where it breaks down fatty food so that it can be absorbed into the body. Nutrient-rich blood passes from the small intestine to the liver, where nutrients are furtherprocessed and stored. Deoxygenated blood leaves the liver via the hepatic vein toreturn to the heart.

Small Intestine Most digestion, as well as absorption of digested food, occurs in the smallintestine. This narrow, twisting tube, about 2.5 cm (1 in) in diameter, fills most of the lower abdomen, extending about 6 m (20 ft) in length. Over a period of three tosix hours, peristalsis moves chyme through the duodenum into the next portion of the small intestine, the jejunum, and finally into the ileum, the last section of thes m a l l i n t e s t i n e . D u r i n g t h i s t i m e , t h e l i v e r s e c r e t e s b i l e i n t o t h e small intestinethrough the bile du ct. Bile breaks large fat globules into small droplets, whichenzymes in the small intestine can act u p o n . P a n c r e a t i c j u i c e , s e c r e t e d b y t h e pancreas, enters the small intestine through the pancreatic duct. Pancreatic juicecontains enzymes that break down sugars and starches into simple sugars, fats intofatty acids and glycerol, and proteins into amino acids. Glands in the intestinal wallssecrete additional enzymes that break down starches and complex sugars intonutrients that the intestine absorbs. Structures called Brunners glands se cretemucus to protect the intestinal walls from the acid effects of digestive juices. The small intestines capacity for absorption is increased by millions o f fingerlike projections called villi, which line the inner walls of t he small intestine.Each villus is about 0.5 to 1.5 mm (0.02 to 0.06 in) long and covered with a singlel a y e r o f c e l l s . E v e n t i n i e r f i n g e r l i k e p r o j e c t i o n s c a l l e d m i c r o v i l l i c o v e r t h e c e l l surfaces. This combination of villi and microvilli increases the surface area of thesmall intestines lining by about 150 times, multiplying its capacity for absorption.B e n e a t h t h e v i l l i s s i n g l e l a y e r o f c e l l s a r e capillaries ( t i n y v e s s e l s ) o f t h e bloodstream and the lymphatic system. These capillaries allow nutrients producedby digestion to travel to the cells of the body. Simple sugars and amino acids passthrough the capillaries to enter the bloodstream. Fatty acids and glycerol passthrough to the lymphatic system. Large Intestine A watery residue of indigestible food and digestive juice s r e m a i n s unabsorbed. This residue leaves the ileum of the small intestine and moves byperistalsis into the large intestine, where it spends 12 to 24 hours. T h e l a r g e intestine forms an inverted U over the coils of the small intestine. It starts on thelower right-hand side of the body and ends on the lower left hand side. The largeintestine is 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 to 6 ft) long and about 6 cm (2.5 in) in diameter. The large intestine serves several important functions. It absorbs waterabout 6 liters (1.6 gallons) dailyas well as dissolved salts from the residue passedon by the small intestine. In addition, bacteria in the large intestine promote thebreakdown of undigested materials and make several vitamins, notably vitamin K,which the body needs for blood clotting. The large intestine moves its remainingcontents toward the rectum, which makes up the final 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 in) of thealimentary canal. The rectum stores the feceswaste material that consists largelyof undigested food, digestive juices, bacteria, and mucusuntil elimination. Then,muscle contractions in the walls of the rectum push the feces toward the anus.When sphincters between the rectum and anus relax, the feces pass out of the bod.

PRED FX: >ENVT >HYGIENE >STRESS :INGESTION OF E-COLI :INVASION OF GASTRIC MUCOSA :PENETRATION OF GASTRIC MUCOSA

PRECI FX: >AGE(6 MOS.) >GENDER(MALE)

:TOXINS PRODUCING PATHOGENS CAUSE WATERY, LARGE VOLUME DIARRHEA :IRRITATION OF THE GASTRIC LINING

>S & SX WATERY STOOL AND FEVER

>S & SX VOMITTING

:Fluid and Electrolyte imbalance too much Na+ and H2O are expelled from the body :INCREASE FLUID LOSS :DEHYDRATION >S & SX DEC. SKIN TURGOR , SUNKEN EYBALLS