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Biology > Digestive System > Flashcards

Digestive System Flashcards

(46 cards)

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1
Q

Mouth

A

Where the start of the digestive process begins, oral cavity is inside

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2
Q

Teeth

A

Used to mechanically start digesting food. Consist of incisors, canine teeth, premolars, and molars

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3
Q

Tongue

A

Used to taste food and shapes it into a bolus

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4
Q

Salivary glands

A
  • Secrete saliva into the mouth
  • Saliva contains:
  • –Glycoprotein to lubricate food for easier swallowing
  • –Buffers to neutralize food (prevents tooth decay)
  • –Antibacterial agents to get rid of bad bacteria
  • –Amylase, which hydrolyzes starch
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5
Q

Pharynx

A
  • The throat, has openings to both the esophagus and the pharynx
  • Leads to both the esophagus and the trachea
  • Food and air pass through
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6
Q

Epiglottis

A

A flap of cartilage and fibrous connective tissue over the opening of the larynx

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7
Q

Esophagus

A

A muscular tube that brings moves boluses from the pharynx to the stomach by peristalsis

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8
Q

Cardiac sphincter

A

A flap of muscle preventing the acidic contents (and chyme) from the stomach from moving up into the esophagus

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9
Q

Stomach (gastrin?)

A
  • The place where partially digested food is stored, and chemical and mechanical digestion occurs
  • Gastrin: hormone that stimulates the secretion of gastric juice
  • Acid inhibits the release of gastrin –> less gastric juice
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10
Q

Pyloric sphincter

A

A flap of muscle controls the flow of partially digested food in the stomach to the small intestine

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11
Q

Liver

A
  • Glucose in blood converted to glycogen and stored in the liver
  • Synthesizes many proteins
  • Changes toxins into less toxic forms (alchohol/drugs -> inactive form)
  • Produces bile
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12
Q

Gallbladder

A

-Stores and concentrates bile

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13
Q

Pancreas

A
  • Produces pancreatic juice (digestive enzymes + alkaline solution rich in bicarbonate)
  • Bicarbonate:
  • –Acts as a buffer to neutralize the acidity of chyme as it enter the small intestine (raise pH)
  • –Prevents ulcers
  • –Activates pancreatic enzymes (amylase, lipase, proteases)
  • –Secretes insulin into the bloodstream
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14
Q

Small intestine

A

-In duodenum, mixing: chyme (from stomach), bile (from gallbladder), pancreatic juice, digestive enzymes (from gland cells in intestinal wall)
-All four types of large molecules are finished being digested here
-

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15
Q

Cecum

A

-A pouch at the beginning of the large intestine, assists feces formation

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16
Q

Appendix

A
  • A small fingerlike extension of the cecum that contains many white blood cells that make a minor contribution to immunity
  • Stores beneficial bacteria, reboots intestine after illness, immune functions as well
  • Prone to infection
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17
Q

Large intestine / Colon

A
  • Absorbs water from the alimentary canal
  • Remains of digestive food become more solid as they move along the colon by peristalsis
  • Remaining water is absorbed and undigested solids are compacted into feces
  • Home to mutualistic bacteria
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18
Q

Rectum

A
  • The place where excrement is held until the body is ready to release it
  • Right above the anus
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19
Q

Anus

Study These Flashcards
A

-The opening where undigested materials are expelled

20
Q

***What is the difference between mechanical and chemical digestion? Where does each happen?

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A

-Mechanical: physically breaking the food into smaller pieces
-Chemical: enzymes break apart the food at a molecular level
-

21
Q

Where does hydrolysis of each macromolecule happen? What are the products? What enzymes digest each type of macromolecule?

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A

MOUTH (salivary glands):
Starch —[amylase]–> maltose + other dissac

STOMACH:
Big polypep. —[pepsin]–> small polypep

Starch —[amylase]–> maltose + other dissac (PANCREAS)
Dissac —[sucrase, lactase]–> monosacc (S INT)
Big polypep —[trypsin]–> small polypep (PANCREAS)
Small polypep –[peptidase/protease]–> amino acids (S INT)
Fat globules —[bile salts/emuls.]–> fat droplets (LIVER)
Fats —[lipase]–> fatty acids + glycerol (PANCREAS)

22
Q

What is the bolus?

Study These Flashcards
A

-A lubricated ball of chewed food shaped by the tongue

23
Q

What does the epiglottis do?

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A
  • Flap of cartilage and fibrous connective tissue
  • Larynx moves upward and tips the epiglottis down over the opening to the larynx
  • Prevents food from passing into the trachea
24
Q

What is peristalsis?

Study These Flashcards
A

-Waves of muscle contractions

-

25
What is in gastric juice? Gastric glands?
- Gastric juice: mucus, enzymes, and strong acid (pH 2) - --Mucous cells --> mucus (lubricates + protects cells lining in stomach) - --Parietal cells --> H ions and Cl (combine in lumen to form HCl) - --Chief cells --> pepsinogen (inactive form of pepsin)
26
What is the role of HCL in the stomach?
- HCl converts pepsinogen to pepsin - Pepsin begins the chemical digestion of proteins - Pepsin production activates more pepsinogen production
27
What is chyme? How does it leave the stomach?
- Chyme is the end product of digestion in the stomach - Acidic gastric juices mixed with partially digested food - Leaves through the pyloric sphincter to the small intestine
28
What is H. pylori and what role does it play in the digestive system?
- Acid tolerant bacteria - Burrows beneath the mucus and releases harmful chemicals - Loss of protective mucus and damages cells in stomach lining - Stomach wall may erode to create a hole --> infection, internal bleeding
29
***Where is bile produced? Where is it stored? Where does it eventually go and what is its use (what is it for)?
- Produced in liver - Stored in gallbladder - Breaks fat into smaller droplets that lipase can act on (emulsifier) - It forms micelles around fat droplets to keep them from clumping together and getting larger - Goes into the small intestine when needed
30
What does the pancreas do in digestion?
-It is the major source for most digestive enzymes and neutralizes HCL from the stomach. -
31
***What are the roles of the liver in food metabolism?
-The liver produces bile that prevents fat droplets from getting too large -
32
What is the function of villi and microvilli in the small intestine? What would happen if someone’s villi were greatly reduced in size due to illness?
-They increase the surface area of the small intestine for absorption of nutrients -If a person’s villi were greatly reduced in size, that person may not get enough nutrients to survive and may need to get surgery -
33
***What is the role of E.coli and other mutualistic bacteria in the large intestine? Are they beneficial or harmful in the L.I? In other parts of the body?
-They produce important vitamins that are absorbed into the bloodstream, most are beneficial -
34
What is our microbiome? How is our intestinal microbiome impacted by the food we eat?
-An ecosystem of different bacteria on our skin and in our body -Depending on the food we eat the diversity of the microbiome will increase or decrease -Fibers that cannot be digested by the human body provide a major source of energy for bacteria -Yogurt -
35
How can one increase or decrease the diversity of one’s intestinal microbiome? Is more diversity better?
-More diversity is better and a person can change increase the diversity of their microbiome by eating more natural foods like berries and honey (decrease by meat and refined sugars) -
36
How are the digestive systems of organisms adapted to the type of food they eat? (structural adaptations)
- Carnivore: large, expandable stomach - Herbivores and omnivores have longer alimentary canals - Herbivores have special chambers that house great numbers of microbes - Many herbivorous mammals have cellulose-digesting microbes in the colon (and in a large cecum) - Rabbits + some rodents eat some of their feces - Cattle, sheep, deer: ruminants - four chambered stomach
37
***What are ulcers? What causes them and where do they most commonly occur?
- Ulcers happen when pepsin and HCl destroy cells faster than they can regenerate, eating through the stomach wall - Mucus can be eroded by several causes: H. pylori bacterium infection or stomach exposure to: NSAIDS, alchohol, gastric hyper-acidity, cigarettes - Result: damage to cells lining stomach
38
What is acid reflux / GERD and how can you treat it?
-Gastroesophageal reflux disease is when chyme from the stomach overflows through the gastroesophageal sphincter into the esophagus, irritating the lining of the esophagus -It can be treated by lifestyle changes, medications, or possibly surgery -
39
Diarrhea, constipation (cause, treatment)
- Diarrhea: too much water in feces (not enough time in LI), frequent watery elimination, dehydration - Constipation: not enough fiber in diet (too much time in LI), infrequent elimination and compacted feces
40
***What prevents HCl from destroying the stomach lining?
-Mucus helps protect against HCl and pepsin -New cells lining the stomach are produced every 3 days (by mitosis) -
41
Lactose intolerance (cause, treatment)
- A lack of enzymes that can digest lactose in the small intestine causes digestive problems - Inability to digest milk sugar, bloating + gas when dairy is consumed (produced by bacteria in intestines that feed on dissach. lactose) - This leaves enzymes in the large intestine to deal with lactose, which cause gas and other problems - Digestive enzymes can be taken to help with the problem
42
IBD (cause, treatment)
- Chronic inflammation of all or part of your digestive tract - Severe diarrhea, pain, fatigue and weight loss - Can be debilitating and sometimes leads to life-threatening complications
43
Intestinal gas
- Foods that produce gas (carbs) | - When partially digested carbs reach the small intestine, bacteria digest them, giving off gas as a by-product
44
Celiac disease (cause, treatment)
- Auto-immune disease - Foods that contain gluten - Gluten triggers an immune system reaction in the SI that causes inflammation, which damages villi and decreases nutrient absorption - Treatment: gluten-free diet
45
How are fats, proteins, and carbs absorbed by the small intestine?
- Fatty acids and glycerol absorbed by epithelial cells -> recombined into fats -> transported to lymph vessel -> cells - Amino acids and sugars -> pass out of intestinal epithelium -> across thin wall of capillaries into blood -> cells
46
Gallstones
"stones" of bile salts in gall bladder, can be eliminated through narrow bile duct into digestive system (painful)

Biology (18 decks)

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