RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

BONI AVENUE, MANDALUYONG

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in Zoology I

A Witten Report about:

“The Digestive System of the Body”

A report prepared by:

Group 3 Part in the report

Leader: Aguro, Abegail C. The Digestive process; Diseases of
the Digestive System
Member:Dismaya, Cielo Marie A. Digestive System
Member:Eleazar, Eisen C. Parts and Functions
Member:Villamin, Ma Christine The Digested Food after the
Digestion
Member:Vivero, Cyril Importance of Digestion

Presented to:

Ms. Angelita P. Medalla

Digestive System:
Also known as the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the digestive system begins at the mouth,
includes the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine (also known as the
colon) and rectum, and ends at the anus.

Digestion begins with the mouth. Even the smell of food can generate saliva, which is
secreted by the salivary glands in the mouth, contains an enzyme, salivary amylase,
which breaks down starch. Teeth, which are part of the skeletal system, play a key role in
digestion. In carnivores, teeth are designed for killing and breaking down meat.
Herbivores’ teeth are made for grinding plants and other food to ease them through the
digestion process.
The Digestive process:

Organ Movement
Mouth Chewing
Esophagus Peristalsis
Stomach Upper muscle in stomach relaxes to let food enter, and lower muscle mixes
food with digestive juice

Small Peristalsis
intestine

Pancreas None
Liver None
Large Peristalsis
intestine

Parts and Functions:

Mouth- The digestive process starts in your mouth when you chew. Your salivary
glands make saliva, a digestive juice, which moistens food so it moves more easily
through your esophagus into your stomach. Saliva also has an enzyme that begins to
break down starches in your food.

Esophagus- After swallowing, peristalsis pushes the food down your esophagus into
your stomach.

Stomach- Glands in your stomach lining make stomach acid and enzymes that break
down food. Muscles of your stomach mix the food with these digestive juices.

Pancreas- pancreas makes a digestive juice that has enzymes that break down
carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The pancreas delivers the digestive juice to the small
intestine through small tubes called ducts.

Liver-liver makes a digestive juice called bile that helps digest fats and some vitamins.
Bile ducts carry bile from your liver to your gallbladder for storage, or to the small
intestine for use.

Gallbladder- gallbladder stores bile between meals. When you eat, your gallbladder
squeezes bile through the bile ducts into your small intestine.
Small intestine-small intestine makes digestive juice, which mixes with bile and
pancreatic juice to complete the breakdown of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
Bacteria in your small intestine make some of the enzymes you need to digest
carbohydrates. Your small intestine moves water from your bloodstream into your GI
tract to help break down food. Your small intestine also absorbs water with other
nutrients.

Large intestine-In your large intestine, more water moves from your GI tract into
your bloodstream. Bacteria in your large intestine help break down remaining nutrients
and make vitamin K . Waste products of digestion, including parts of food that are still
too large, become stool.

The Digested Food after the Digestion:

The small intestine absorbs most of the nutrients in your food, and your circulatory
system passes them on to other parts of your body to store or use. Special cells help
absorbed nutrients cross the intestinal lining into your bloodstream. Your blood carries
simple sugars, amino acids, glycerol, and some vitamins and salts to the liver. Your liver
stores, processes, and delivers nutrients to the rest of your body when needed.

The lymph system , a network of vessels that carry white blood cells and a fluid
called lymph throughout your body to fight infection, absorbs fatty acids and vitamins.

Your body uses sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, and glycerol to build substances you
need for energy, growth, and cell repair.

Importance of Digestion:

Digestion is important because your body needs nutrients from food and drink to work
properly and stay healthy. Proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins , minerals , and water
are nutrients. Your digestive system breaks nutrients into parts small enough for your
body to absorb and use for energy, growth, and cell repair.

 proteins break into amino acids

 Fats break into fatty acids and glycerol
 Carbohydrates break into simple sugars

Diseases of the Digestive System:

Many symptoms can signal problems with the GI tract, including: abdominal pain,
blood in the stool, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, incontinence, nausea and
vomiting and difficulty swallowing, according to the NIH.
Among the most widely known diseases of the digestive system is colon cancer.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 51,783 Americans died from colon
cancer in 2011 (the most recent year for available data). Excluding skin cancers, colon
and rectal cancer, or colorectal cancer, is the third most common cancer diagnosed in
both men and women in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.
Polyp growth and irregular cells, which may or may not be cancerous, are the most
common development paths for colorectal cancers (also referred to as CRC), and can be
detected during a routine colonoscopy, according to Dr. John Marks, a
gastroenterologist affiliated with the Main Line Health health care system.

“The best news is that, if caught early enough, they can also be removed during the
colonoscopy — eliminating the possibility that they grow further and become cancer,”
Marks said.

For those patients whose cancer has already spread, there are various minimally
invasive surgical options that have extremely good prognoses. It is recommended that
asymptomatic patients without a family history begin getting tested regularly between
the ages 45 and 50, according to Marks. “Symptoms which may suggest that you need a
colonoscopy at an earlier age include rectal bleeding and stool/bowel habit changes
which last for more than a few days.”

While CRC gets a great deal of attention, many diseases and conditions of the digestive
system — including irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, GERD (acid
reflux) and Crohn’s disease — can be chronic and are difficult to diagnose and treat,
according to Dr. Larry Good, a gastroenterologist affiliated with South Nassau
Communities Hospital. “With many of these diseases, blood work and colonoscopies all
looks normal, so there is an absence of red flags.”

Many of the diseases of the digestive system are tied to the foods we eat, and a number
of sufferers can reduce their symptoms by restricting their diets, Good said. “Of course
no one wants to hear that they can’t eat certain foods, but many times, eliminating
acidic things from the diet, such as tomatoes, onions, and red wine, can have an impact,”
Good said.

There are a number of tests to detect digestive tract ailments. A colonoscopy is the
examination of the inside of the colon using a long, flexible, fiber-optic viewing
instrument called a colonoscope, according the American Gastroenterological
Association. Other testing procedures include upper GI endoscopy, capsule endoscopy,
endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic ultrasound.