What Makes Up The Digestive System and what are the Disorders of This System?
The digestive system does 3 things: it mixes food, moves the food through the digestive tract, and it also initiates a chemical breakdown of larger molecules of food into smaller more useable molecules.
Your digestive system is the body parts that aid in turning food and drink into smaller molecules that can be absorbed into the bloodstream and carried by cells to other body systems. Digestion itself is a process by which the molecules of food and drink are made ready to be utilized by the body. The body uses these molecules to build and to nourish the cells of the body, and to provide energy for the body's functions.
The digestive system does 3 things: it mixes food, moves the food through the digestive tract, and it also initiates a chemical breakdown of larger molecules of food into smaller more useable molecules.
The digestive system begins in your mouth when you take in the food and drink. The end of the digestive system is the small intestine where the waste products exit the body.
In between the mouth and the small intestine is the rest of the digestive system; the digestive tract and other organs that also aid in digestion. The digestive tract is made up of several hollow organs that are joined in a long, twisting tube starting at the mouth and ending at the anus. The digestive system includes: the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and the anus.
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Conditions, Disorders, Diseases of the Digestive System
The digestive system has many organs that have a role in the process of digestion including the liver, pancreas, digestive tract (esophagus, stomach, intestines). There are many conditions, diseases and disorders that affect the functioning of the digestive system.
Intestinal Disorders
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Your body has organs that give aid to the digestive process without being part of the digestive system. These organs are the tongue, the glands in the mouth that secrete saliva, the pancreas, the liver and also the gallbladder. There are other sections of other body systems that also aid the digestive system such as blood and nerves that actually play a vital role in the digestive process.
The digestive system moves the food and liquid along the digestive tract by a wave-like movement called, "peristalsis".
When you take that first bite of food or first gulp of liquid a voluntary process begins called swallowing. The rest of the movement through the system changes to a involuntary movement.
The food and liquid follow the tract in orderly fashion being moved along by these involuntary movements. The first area that the food and liquid pass through is the esophagus, then the stomach. The stomach has 3 functions to complete in the digestive process. The stomach stores, mixes and empties food and liquid. After the stomach completes these 3 functions it empties the contents into the small intestine. The juices of the pancreas, liver, and intestine are used to further digest the food, and then the contents of the small intestine are mixed and pushed further where it is further digested. The digested nutrients are absorbed through the intestine walls and the waste products (parts not used by the body), including undigested parts of food (fiber, and older cells shed by the mucosa) then move into the colon. These products remain in the colon for one or two days until they are expelled by a bowel movement.
A few of the common digestive system disorders include: Celiac disease, Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Gastritis and peptic ulcers, and Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
News on Digestive Disorders
09/03/2010
Bone-building drugs double the risk of esophageal cancer, but the risk is still small
The family of bone-building drugs that includes Fosamax, Actonel and Boniva can double the risk of developing throat cancer, researchers reported Thursday in the latest development in what has become a confusing discussion. Other studies have reported no increase, but even if the newest finding is correct, the risk is still quite small--about two cases per 1,000 people between age 60 and 79 ...
Bone-building drugs double the risk of esophageal cancer, but the risk is still small
09/04/2010
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09/03/2010
Bone-building drugs double the risk of esophageal cancer, but the risk is still small
The family of bone-building drugs that includes Fosamax, Actonel and Boniva can double the risk of developing throat cancer, researchers reported Thursday in the latest development in what has become a confusing discussion. Other studies have reported no increase, but even if the newest finding is correct, the risk is still quite small--about two cases per 1,000 people between age 60 and 79 ...
Bone-building drugs double the risk of esophageal cancer, but the risk is still small
09/03/2010
Bone-building drugs double the risk of esophageal cancer, but the risk is still small
The family of bone-building drugs that includes Fosamax, Actonel and Boniva can double the risk of developing throat cancer, researchers reported Thursday in the latest development in what has become a confusing discussion. Other studies have reported no increase, but even if the newest finding is correct, the risk is still quite small--about two cases per 1,000 people between age 60 and 79 ...
Bone-building drugs double the risk of esophageal cancer, but the risk is still small
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