digestive system
by tommy steinberg
The Digestive System
The digestive system has 8 main organs; the tongue, which is the chief organ of taste, the salivary glands, which create mucus to aid in digestion, the liver, which produces bile, the stomach, which stores and breaks down ingested food, the gall bladder, which stores bile, the small intestine, which digests carbohydrates and absorbs nutrients, the large intestine, which absorbs water and ion, and the pancreas, which I will get into more detail later. It interacts with the muscular system, by pushing food through the human body. People couldn't live without a stomach because food wouldn't have a place to be stored.
The Pancreas
The pancreas has 3 main functions; it produces digestive juices required to break down food stuffs, produces insulin and glucagon, and digests carbohydrates in the intestine. The pancreas is composed of two types of tissue. They are the islets of Langerhans and acinar cells.
Diseases in the Digestive System
Whipples Disease
Whipple's disease is a very rare, systemic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Tropherma Whipple. It causes malabsorbation but may affect any part of the body including the heart, brain, joints, skin, lungs, and the eyes. Whipple;s Disease can usually be cured with long-term antibiotic therapy; untreated, the disease is ultimately fatal
How does this system interact with other organ systems?
There are 4 main reasons why the digestive system interacts with others.
1) Vitamin D, activated in the skin, plays are role in absorption in calcium from the digestive tract.
2) The nervous system can influence digestive system activity.
3) Kidneys and liver work together to activate vitamin D.
4) the muscular system helps push through the body.
1) Vitamin D, activated in the skin, plays are role in absorption in calcium from the digestive tract.
2) The nervous system can influence digestive system activity.
3) Kidneys and liver work together to activate vitamin D.
4) the muscular system helps push through the body.