Digestive System And The Alimentary Canal Flashcards
What are the disorders of the digestive system?
* Malnutrition
* Obesity
* Tooth decay
* Diabetes
* Constipation
* Ulcers
* Diarrhoea
* Bowel habits
* Anorexia nervosa
* Liver Cirrhosis
What is malnutrition?
There are two types. It is a condition resulting from a lack of nutrients that are required for a healthy growth. Nutrients are lacking or too high in quantities or wrong proportions
What is overnutrition?
Too much food is consumed. For example diabetes and obesity
What is under nutrition?
Too little food is consumed
What is obesity?
A medical condition of having excessive amount of body fat caused eating too much or little exercise
What is tooth decay?
Too much sugar intake and poor oral hygiene
What is type two Diabetes?
Occurs when the body is not able to control the amount of sugar in the blood.
What is type two diabetes caused by?
Can be inherited
Caused by eating too much sugar
Living an inactive lifestyle
What is constipation?
A condition in which bowel movements occur less frequently and consists of hard and dry stools. Stools become hard and are difficult to pass
When does constipation occur?
When one does not consume enough fibre and little water
What can chronic constipation lead to?
It leads to haemorrhoids and colon cancer
What are ulcers?
Sores in the lining of the mouth and intestines. It is the result of wounds that do not heal properly. May be vitamin C deficiency. Breaks in skin or mucus in membrane. Stomach, mouth and intestines.
What is diarrhoea?
A condition where a person has more than five bowl movements of watery stools per day
What can diarrhoea be caused by?
Artificial sweeteners and other additives
Define additives
Chemical substances that make food last longer and add flavour
What can eating large meals lead to?
A change in bowel habits. The urge to have bowel movements does not happen
What is another name for the alimentary canal?
The gastrointestinal tract
What is the digestive system?
Made up of all the organs that play a role in digestion. It includes the alimentary canal and the liver
Define alimentary canal
The structures that food passes through. Food needs to be broken down into smaller particles
How many processes take place in the digestive system?
4 processes
What are the process of the digestive system?
Ingestion, digestion, absorption and egestion
What is ingestion?
The intake of food by biting, chewing and swallowing. It occurs in the mouth
What is digestion?
Mechanical and chemical process that converts large complex insoluble foods into simple soluble nutrients. Break down of food into a form that can be absorbed. Occurs in stomach and small intestine
What is absorption?
Occur when soluble nutrients are taken up by the bloodstream.
How are nutrients and water dissolved in absorption?
By diffusion
What happens in the small intestine during absorption?
Good particles are broken down by digestion and are ready to be absorbed. Inner wall of small intestine
What happens with the villi and absorption?
Inner wall of small intestine is covered with millions of small villi (finger like projection). Villi contain blood vessels which absorb the digested nutrients. Nutrients are now transported into bloodstream to blood cells
What is egestion?
Occurs when undigested food materials called faeces are passed out of the body through the anus. Ingested food from alimentary canal
What are the digestive organs?
- Mouth
- Pharynx
- Oesophagus
- Stomach
- Duodenum
- Small intestine
- Large intestine
- Rectum
- Anus
What process of digestion takes place in the mouth?
Ingestion
What happens in the mouth?
Teeth and tongue crash and mash food. The mouth helps to mix the food with saliva and swallow
Define saliva
Liquid secreted into the mouth by salivary glands
What are the functions of the mouth?
- Teeth break down the food into smaller pieces, which increases the surface area for attachment of chemicals, which further digest food
- Tongue and palate rolls to eat food into a small ball which is called Bollus. This makes swallowing easier