Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The small intestine or small bowel is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract where most of the absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intestine, and receives bile and pancreatic juice through the pancreatic duct to aid in digestion.
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus.The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and other animals, including the esophagus, stomach, and intestines.
The endocrine part secretes insulin when the blood sugar becomes high; insulin moves glucose from the blood into the muscles and other tissues for use as energy. The endocrine part releases glucagon when the blood sugar is low; glucagon allows stored sugar to be broken down into glucose by the liver in order to re-balance the sugar levels.
Getting your body moving can help your bowels do the same. “Regular physical activity, even simply walking, can help to stimulate your bowels to make your stools more regular,” says Moore.
Although water travels down an osmotic gradient in each individual step, overall, water usually travels against the osmotic gradient due to the pumping of sodium ions into the intercellular fluid. This allows the large intestine to absorb water despite the blood in capillaries being hypotonic compared to the fluid within the intestinal lumen.
Bowel obstruction is a bowel condition which is a blockage that can be found in both the small intestines and large intestines. Increase of contractions can relieve blockages; however, continuous contractions with decreasing functionality may lead to terminated mobility of the small intestines, which then forms the obstruction.
Underlying the epithelium is the lamina propria, which contains myofibroblasts, blood vessels, nerves, and several different immune cells, and the muscularis mucosa which is a layer of smooth muscle that aids in the action of continued peristalsis and catastalsis along the gut.
The transcellular (through the cells) and paracellular (between the cells) routes control the passage of substances between the intestinal lumen and blood. The barrier formed by the intestinal epithelium separates the external environment (the contents of the intestinal lumen ) from the body [ 6 ] and is the most extensive and important mucosal ...