HUMAN DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

The digestive system is the series of tube like organs that convert our meals into body fuel. In all there's about 30
feet (9 meters) of these convoluted pipe works, starting with the mouth and ending with the anus. Along the way,
food is broken down, sorted, and reprocessed before being circulated around the body to nourish and replace
cells and supply energy to our muscles.
MOUTH
The human mouth has many functions,
including the formation of speech and aiding in
breathing, but the three main digestive
purposes the mouth has are:

• the intake of food

• the beginning of mechanical digestion
• swallowing

The human mouth is lined with mucous

membranes that protect the outer cell layer of
the body cavity (the epithelium) from abrasive
food and harmful digestive juices while the food
passes through the upper alimentary canal. The
mucous membrane, along with the sub mucosa
and the serosa, is actually present throughout
the entire alimentary tract. However, the mouth
and esophageal mucous membranes are not
involved in adsorption as their intestinal
counterparts are, and subsequently these have
a different morphology (stratified, squamous
cells.)

The mouth also bears teeth which aid in the mechanical

digestion according to their shape and position. The crown
(covered in a shiny layer of enamel) sticks out of the gum,
while the root is implanted in the alveolar bone (and is
encased in cementum.) Children have 20 deciduous teeth
and adults have 32 permanent teeth. They are only truly
specialized in adults, but in general, they are the incisors,
canines, premolars, and molars. Incisors have the cutting
function of mastication or chewing of food. Canines are
sometimes called cuspids and pierce and tear food that is
being eaten. Premolars/bicuspids and molars/tricuspids have
large, flat surfaces with two or three grinding cusps on their
surface. Then a small rounded mass of food called a bolus is
formed so that it can be swallowed easily.

BOLUS
The bolus is a mixture of the solid food particles reduced in size and saliva. The action of swallowing begins with
the elevation of the tongue against the top of the palate to separate a bolus of food. The tongue then propels the
separated food into the oropharynx, the upper pharynx, where the process continues.

Early Digestion: Pharynx

After food leaves the mouth, it passes posteriorly into the pharynx and then by the epiglottis.
Histologically there are three types of pharynx tissues, but for the purposes of the digestive system only the
oropharynx and the laryngopharynx are of concern. Initially food starts out in the oropharynx (located behind
the tonsils and the palatopharyngeal arch), and via parastalsis moves through the laryngopharynx (located at the
base of the neck) and eventually empties into the esophagus. These muscular tracks are lined with a mucosal
membrane that is similar in histology as the rest of the oral cavity.

Early Digestion: Salivary Glands

Three pairs of salivary glands secrete up to one liter

of saliva a day. The parotids lie just blow and in
front of ear near the jaw and secrete through the
parotid duct. Ducts for the submandibular and the
sublingual glands lie on the floor of the mouth and
either side of the frenulum which attaches the
tongue to the mouth. It is when food enters the
mouth that the extrinsic glands are activated and
saliva starts to be secreted.

The substance secreted contains mucous and

salivary amylase which begins the chemical
digestion of carbohydrates. The mucus helps in
reducing friction between the food and the
esophagus. Saliva is roughly 98% water and therefore hypoosmotic. Solutes also include electrolytes
(sodium, potassium, chloride, phosphate, and bicarbonate ions); the proteins mucin, lysozyme, and IgA; and
metabolic wastes.

The proteins provide protection against microorganisms with antibodies and a bacteriostatic enzyme that
may help stop bacterial growth. There is also some growth factor found in saliva that heal licked wounds of
animals and humans as well.

Early Digestion: Esophagus

The esophagus is a long muscle lined tube that connects the
mouth to the stomach. Its role is simple:\ move liquid and
solid food to the stomach for further digestion. The
esophagus accomplishes this using gravity and an intricate
muscular motion called peristalsis. Peristalsis involves
contraction of alternating muscular segments in the
esophagus which results in movement of food down to the
stomach.

To ensure that food does not come back into the mouth, the
esophagus has a "pinch-cock" mechanism at its upper end.
To protect the esophagus from food travel, a layer of
squamous ephithelial cells (similar to skin cells) lines the
lumen - making up the Mucosa. When not in use, the
esophagus is collapsed.

The connection between the stomach and the esophagus is

called the cardia orifice and is surrounded by the important
gastroesophageal sphincter. This sphincter acts as a true valve and is present to prevent stomach
contents from leaking back into the esophagus. If stomach acid were to reach the esophagus, intense pain
would result due to the reletivly sensitive nature of the esophageal mucosa compared to the stomach
mucosa.

Middle Digestion: Liver

 The liver is classified as the largest gland in body. It fills most of
the abdominal cavity on the right side and most of the left. The
secretion of bile is regulated through this organ which
emulsifies fats. Fats in chyme stimulate the secretion of the
hormone cholecystokinin or CCK from the intestinal lining
cause contraction of the gallbladder which forces bile to enter
into the duodenum.

Middle Digestion: Stomach

The stomach lies in the upper part of
the abdominal cavity under the
diaphragm. Food enters here after
having been chewed, swallowed, and
passed through the esophagus. Size
can change dramatically with the
amount of food in the stomach. The
cardiac sphincter is a ring of muscle
that prevents food from reentering the
esophagus while the stomach is
contracting to form a semisolid
mixture known as chyme.
Hydrochloric acid and enzymes mix
with the food to aid in the mechanical
digestive process.

There are three layers of smooth

muscle that run lengthwise, around,
and obliquely make the stomach one
of the strongest internal organs. The
folds in the lining of the stomach are known as rugae secrete gastric juice and hydrochloric acid. Muscles
contracting result in peristalsis which forces food down the esophagus.

The stomach can be divided into three parts. The fundus is the enlarged part that extends upwards past the
opening of the esophagus into the stomach. The body, or the middle part, and the last third known as the
pylorus, both function in partial digestion aided by the pyloric sphincter muscle which closes off the stomach
from the small intestine.
Middle Digestion: Gallbladder
The gallbladder is a storage area for bile which is
produced by the liver. It is when chyme containing fats or
lipids that a mechanism to squeeze the gallbladder and
push some of the bile into the duodenum and small
intestine. The gallbladder also concentrates the liquid for
storage purposes.

However this causes the production of gallstones to block

the common bile duct which could then causes lack of
drainage of the gallbladder. Feces change to a gray-white
color and excessive amounts of bile is absorbed into the
bloodstream changing to a yellowish tint and condition
known as jaundice. Blockage of the hepatic duct can also
cause this condition.

Middle Digestion: Pancreas

This C-shaped organ secretes pancreatic juice into ducts and hormones into the bloodstream. This digestive
enzyme is the most important since it can break down all three major kinds of food. It contains sodium
bicarbonate which is an alkaline substance that neutralizes the hydrochloric acid that enters the intestine.

There are clusters of cells in the center that have no contact with any other ducts which are called pancreatic
islets which secrete the hormones into the bloodstream thus making this gland part of the both endocrine and
exocrine systems.

Late Digestion: The Small

Intestine
The small intestine is
slightly misnamed
since it is over twenty
feet long. With
respect to diameter
however, it is
significantly smaller
than the large
intestine. Food
passes through the
duodenum, jejunum,
and the ileum. There
are thousands of
microscopic intestinal
glands in the mucous
lining that secrete
intestinal digestive
juice. These in turn
are organized into
multiple circular folds known as plicae which in turn are covered with millions of tiny folds called villi.

Villi project into the hollow interior of the intestine where a network of capillaries absorb the products of
carbohydrate and protein digestion. This is highly advantageous for absorption of food into the blood and lymph.
The lymphatic vessel of lacteal sucks in the lipid or fat materials from the chyme that passes through the smalll
intestine. In addition the the brushlike border is composed of microvilli that increase the surface area
significantly.

The majority of the chemical digestion is done in the duodenum or the first subdivision of small intestine.
Because of this, most of the ulcers that form also appear here. The middle third has ducts that empty the
pancreatic digestive juices as well as bile from the liver.

Late Digestion: The Large Intestine

The large intestine represents the terminal phase in digestion. Here, large amounts of water and salts are
reabsorbed back into the blood, leaving only the familiar fecal matter. Unlike the fast-moving Chyme in the small
intestine, this fecal matter moves slowly and contains much less nutrients and water. Chyme enter the large
intestine via the sphincter, ileocecal valve, and continues into the cecum. From the cecum, fecal matter travels
upward into the ascending colon, across the transverse colon, and down into the descending colon. The
sigmoid colon (having a 'S' shape) is the last major portion of the large intestine. Here, this usually dry fecal
matter terminates in the rectum to anal canal to anus pathway and then exits the body.

Late Digestion: Rectum

Also known as retroperitoneal, the rectum and the associated
anal canal is the most caudal organ in the digestive system.
While it's name might mislead one into believing it is straight
(from the Latin, rectus), it actually consists of three lateral curves or
bends. These are represented internally as three transverse
folds called the rectal valves, which are located at the top of
above picture. These valves are extremely important as they are
used to separate the feces (stool) from flatus (gas). Moving
downwards, one encounters the anal canal. It is controlled by
two sphincters, the internal anal sphincter and the external
anal sphincter. The former set of muscles is primarily
involuntary while the later is voluntarally controlled. Essentially
these sphincters keep the anus, the opening at the end of the
digestive system, from staying open.