The esophagus is an eight-inch tube which connects the pharynx to the stomach. This organ is very muscular. After swallowing, chewed masses of food are carried across the length of the esophagus. A muscular ring called the “lower esophageal sphincter” or “cardiac sphincter” is located at the inferior end of the esophagus. Automatically, this sphincter shuts the end of the esophagus to keep stomach contents from traveling backward. Once food travels through the esophagus, it is ready to be transferred to the stomach.
The stomach is a bag-like organ which is responsible for the temporary storage of ingested food. This J-shaped organ is located on the left side of the abdominal cavity. Multiple longitudinal folds, which are called “rugae,” contract to allow the incredibly elastic stomach to expand when food enters. Astonishingly, the stomach can hold a capacity of 1.5 liters of material. Other than storing food, the stomach also functions to digest food both mechanically and chemically. It is where the majority of gastric glands are located. As it fills with food, gastric glands within the stomach lining secrete digestive juices and acids that are very powerful. Everyday two liters of corrosive gastric juices are produced by the gastric glands. These digestive juices contain enzymes which break down proteins. In The Way We Work, author David Macauley states, “Digestion without enzymes would be like a football game without players—no action and no result” (119). Amino acids, which are present within protein, must be reduced into simple components. Enzymes accomplish this task. Amino acids split when the protein molecule attaches to the correct enzyme. As indicated before, hydrochloric acid in the stomach dissolves food and kills di...
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...of the most common are the following: gastric ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), celiac disease, and Crohn’s disease. These and other disorders definitely disrupt the digestive system.
Gastric ulcers are breaks in the stomach’s mucous membrane that turn into open sores. These ulcers vary in size and can be microscopic or have a diameter of more than an inch. People with ulcers experience pain in the upper abdomen after eating. These ulcers are caused by excess gastric acid that eat away the stomach lining. Ulcers can heal by using medications that help to lower gastric acid quantities. In severe cases, bleeding ulcers can burn a hole through the stomach wall causing the stomach’s contents to spill out. If this occurs, surgery is required to close the opening. Gastric ulcers certainly cause discomfort in the stomach.
bottom edges are not tightly shut, and acid moves form the stomach up into the
2. Esophagus: 10 in. long and extends from the pharynx to the stomach. Food moves down the esophagus by the peristalsis. The sphincter, a circular muscle at the entrance of the stomach opens and closes to allow food to enter the stomach.
Stomach, an organ belongs to the digestive system, plays an important role in human body. This J-shaped organ can be full with one liter of food. Stomach is located on left upper part of abdominal cavity, it connects the esophagus (upper) with the small intestine (below). To the left of the stomach, there is a spleen and to the right of it, we’ve got the liver. There are four sections of the stomach: cardia, fundus, body and pyloric. To control the openings into the stomach, the gastroesophageal sphincter relaxes and allowing food leave the stomach is the function of pyloric sphincter. The stomach wall has three layers of muscles that help it contracts in all direction to break food into smaller molecules. Moreover, this organ is lined by mucus coat to neutralize acid
Once in the stomach, step four starts to work. The stomach is specially designed to expand and compress to accommodate food. The stomach walls are similar to elastic which allows it to stretch out and hold as much as one half gallon of food. By being able to hold that much food, it allows us to go a few hours without eating any food and gives out body time to digest the food that we have just eaten. Not only does the stomach hold the food until it is ready to be digested but it also mixes and grinds the food up. While the stomach mixes and grinds the food it also secrets acid and powerful enzymes that continue to breakdown the food changing it to a paste like liquid. Once the food is a paste like liquid, it is ready for the next step of the digestive system (2012, Pg.
In order for this breakdown to happen, the ‘tube’ through which the food travels requires assistance from a number of other digestive organs starting with the salivary glands, and later receiving
This is a J-shaped organ, that can contract or expand, depending on what’s inside, due to the nature of its elasticity. It has two valves, one at the opening called the cardiac sphincter, which prevent a back flow of food into oesophagus, and the other one at the exit called the pyloric sphincter (situated at the entrance of the duodenum), which regulates food leaving the stomach. (Tucker.
Digestive juices are produced daily in the amount of about 2 to 3 quarts, which could explain the gurgling noises heard at times. As food enters, the gastric juices are then released and begin working on proteins. the salivary amylase continues working in your stomach. Within the action of the gastric juices are helped by the churning in the stomach walls. The semiliquid food is called chyme, as the chyme leaves the stomach through the pyloric sphincter, as it acts as the gatekeeper. This allows a small squirt of chyme into the duodenum from time to time. Pizza takes around 2-4 hours to leave your stomach. As food moves through your stomach by peristalsis; vomiting is an action that occurs due to reverse . Therefore, the only known substances absorbed in the stomach are alcohol and some
Food comes in the mouth, and chewing and saliva start to break it up and make it smaller to swallow. Then, the food goes down through the esophagus to the stomach. Moving of the stomach’s muscular wall keeps going to break down the food. The grinded up food eventually passes
Peristalsis that was mentioned earlier in the oesophagus is also used in the small intestine to help move food through and mix it with digestive secretions from the pancreas and the liver. Its first responsibility is the process to continuously breakdown, then the second and third responsibility is the absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream. As chyme moves through the small intestine, many of the molecules are absorbed in to the bloodstream and the small intestine has a very efficient way to help in this process. The inside of the small intestine has finger-like projections called villi and these raise the surface area of the gut. The contents of the small intestine begin semi-solid and then finish in a liquid form after passing through the organ. Bile enzymes, water and mucus contributes to the change in consistency. Then once the nutrients have been absorbed and any leftover food residue liquid has been passed through the small intestine, it will then move onto the large intestine through the ileocecal
...ve eaten, to break down the food into a liquid mixture and to slowly empty that liquid mixture into the small intestine. Once the bolus has entered your stomach it begins to be broken down with the help of the strong muscles and gastric juices which are located in the walls of your stomach. The gastric juices are made up of hydrochloric acid, water, and mucus- and the main enzyme inside of your stomach is what is known as pepsin, which needs to be surrounded in an acidic setting in order to do its job, that is to break down protein. Once the bolus has been inside of your stomach for long enough it begins to form into a liquid called chyme, and what keeps the chyme from flowing back into our esophagus are ring shaped muscles known as sphincters located at the beginnings and ends of the stomach and they have the task of controlling the flow of solids and liquids.
Once in the stomach, the glands that are there begin to secrete enzymes and a mucous that help to protect the stomach from its own acids. While this is being done, the muscles of the stomach are contracting. This causes the food to be turned and moved all throughout the stomach. This process turns the food into chyme, which is just a liquefied version of the food that was first taken...
Have you ever wondered where your food has gone once you consume it? Through your digestive system where the mass of food undergoes a process called digestion. Digestion is the chemical and physical breakdown of food into forms such as energy or nutrients that can be used by the body’s cells (McKenzie, 2010). The whole process starts in the mouth. The mouth contains a watery substance called saliva. Saliva is important to the whole process of food digestion, because not only does it help with sensing taste, but it is also made up of enzymes that break down the fats and starches in food at a molecular level. The esophagus is a tube where swallowed food travels down to the stomach. The stomach is a muscular sac that acts as a blender and mixes food with acid, hydrochloric acid, which breaks down the swallowed chum and flushes the nutrients into the small intestine (Columbia University, 2010). The hydrochloric acid in the stomach is so powerful it can eat through a leather shoe. However, the stomach contains other chemicals, such as gastric acid, mucus and enzymes that also soften food (Sullivan, 2008). The result thus far in the process of digestion in the stomach is now called chime (Sullivan,
The human digestion system is very complex. It starts with the mouth, salivary glands, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, small intestine, large intestine, then ends/exits with the anus. Each step is essential to the whole system. For example, the mouth chews food and mixes it with saliva produced by the salivary glands, and then the pharynx swallows chewed food mixed with saliva, this is followed by the food traveling through the esophagus to the stomach where the food gets a bath and mixes with acids and enzymes. After the stomach, the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder produce, stores, and releases bile and bicarbonates. Bile is produced in the liver and aids in digestion and absorption of fat while the gallbladder stores bile and releases it into the small intestine when needed. Following the process into the small intestine, this is where nutrients will be absorbed into the blood or lymph (most digestion occurs here). Next is the large intestine this is where water and some vitamins and minerals are absorbed. Finally, it is the end of the road, the anus. At...
The digestive system is a very important system in the human body. It is a group of organs that work together to turn food into energy and nutrients in the entire body. The food that was chewed in a humans’ mouth now passes through a long tube that is inside of the body that is known as the alimentary canal. The alimentary canal is made of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestines, and large intestines. Those few things are not the only important accessories of the digestive system there is also the teeth, tongue, salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.
The highly acidic peptic environment make it almost impossible for any organism to exist, but thanks to the ability of H.Pylori to produce the enzyme Urease, H.Pylori can thrive in the stomach. Urease has the ability raises the surrounding pH throughout converts urea to ammonia plus carbon dioxide, raising the pH of the surrounding area. Which can lead to mild protection against gastric acid.