Digestive system Flashcards
(28 cards)
Functions of digestive System
Mechanical and chemical breakdown
Two types of bowel movements
Mixing, Propelling
Mouth
Begins digestion by chewing and mixing with saliva
Tongue
Moves food, connects to floor of mouth via frenulum
Amylase
Enzyme breaks down starch into sugars
Esophagus
The muscular tube that carries food and liquids from your mouth to the stomach.
Four regions of the stomach
Cardia, funds, body, pylorus
Pyloric canal
Which connects to the duodenum
Pyloric sphincter
Is located at this latter point of connection and controls stomach emptying
Stomach lining
Mucus prevents stomach from digesting itself, small openings called gastric pits contain glands
Glands secrete gastric juices to breakdown food
Pepsin
Most important digestive enzyme for breaking down food
Mechanical Digestion
Food being broken down in smaller pieces (ex: chewing and churning of the stomach)
Chemical Digestion
Substances in our digestive organs are released that change food particles into particles that are chemically different (ex: acids and bases)
Chyme
is the semi-fluid mass of partly digested food that is expelled by a person’s stomach, through the pyloric valve, into the duodenum.
Small intestine
which is the primary digestive organ in the body. Not only is this where most digestion occurs, it is also where practically all absorption occurs.
Duodenum
The shortest region is the 25.4-cm (10-in) duodenum, which begins at the pyloric sphincter.
Jejunum
No clear line exists between the jejunum and the final segment of the small intestine, the ileum.
Ileum
It is thicker, more vascular, and has more developed mucosal folds than the jejunum.
Large intestine
is subdivided into four main regions: the cecum, the colon, the rectum, and the anus.
Cecum
start of large intestine, has an attached appendix
Colon
-4 sections Ascending Transverse Descending Sigmoid
Rectum
stores waste before it is expelled from the body
Anus
Muscular sphincter which controls the exit of waste
Function of large intestine
- Secretes mucus, reabsorbs water, contains bacteria to aid in digestion.
- Mass Movements (defecation) - removes undigested food.