The Digestive System

A. The Definition

The Digestive System is the system which deals with the food which we eat. As food passes
through the digestive tract it is broken down by physical and chemical means, until it is in a form
suitable for absorption into the blood stream and utilization within the body. The activities of the
digestive system are therefore:

Ingestion  this means taking the food into the alimentary tract.
Digestion  physical digestion consists of mechanical break-down of food by
mastication (chewing), and the muscular action within the digestive tract. Chemical
digestion is achieved by chemical substances or enzymes present in secretions produced
by glands of the digestive system, these secretions include saliva from the salivary
glands, gastric juice from the stomach and pancreatic juice from the pancreas.
Absorption  the process by which digested food substances pass through the walls of
some organs of the digestive tract into the bloodstream and lymph vessels.
Elimination  food substances which have been eaten but cannot be absorbed are
excreted from the bowel as faeces.

B. The Function

The Organs of the Digestive System

The alimentary tract or digestive tube is a long tube through which food passes. It
commences at the mouth and terminates at the anus and the various parts are given
independent names, although structurally there are remarkably similar. The parts of the tract
are :

 Mouth or Oral Cavity

The mouth is a cavity bounded by muscles and bones :

- Anteriorly. By the muscles of the lips.

- Posteriorly. It is in communication with the pharynx.
 - Laterally. By the muscles of the cheeks.
- Superiorly. By the bony hard and muscular soft-palate.
- Inferiorly. By the muscular tongue and the muscles and soft tissue of the floor of the
mouth.

The oral cavity is lined throughout with mucous membrane covered by stratified squamous
epithelium. This prevents the more delicate mucous membrane from being damaged by hard
food taken into the mouth.

In the mouth there are found :

- The tongue plays an important part in mastication (chewing), deglutition (swallowing)

and is essential for speech. It is the organ of taste and the nerve endings of the sense of
the taste are to be found in the papillae.
- The teeth are embedded in the alveoli or sockets of the alveolar ridges of the mandible
and the maxillae. Each individual has two sets of teeth, the temporary or deciduous teeth
and the permanent teeth.

 The Pharynx

As has already been described the pharynx is divided, for convenience, into three parts :

- The naso-pharynx
- The oro-pharynx, and
- The laryngo-pharynx

Of these the oro-pharynx and the laryngo-pharynx are associated with the elementary tract,
food passing from the oral cavity to the oro-pharynx and from there to the laryngo-pharynx
which is continuous with the oesophagus below.

 The Oesophagus

The oesophagus or gullet is about the inches long and is the narrowest part of the alimentary
tract. It is continuous with the pharynx above and passes through the mediastinum and the
diaphragm to the stomach. It lies in the median plane in front of the vertebral column and behind
the trachea and the heart.

The structure of the Oesophagus.

There are four layers of the tissue which form the oesophagus.

1. The outer covering consists of elastic fibrous tissue.

2. The second layer consists of the muscle tissue (there is a coat of longitudinal fibres and
deep to it, one of circular fibres). At the lower end of the oesophagus the circular fibres
are thickened to become the cardiac sphincter.
In the upper two-thirds of the oesophagus the muscle tissue is under the control of
the will, but in the lower third, and in the remainder of the alimentary tract, muscular
action is involuntary.
3. The third layer is called the sub-mucous layer and consists of areolar tissue which is well
supplied with the blood vessels, lymph vessels and nerves.
4. The fourth layer, or inner lining, consists of mucous membrane covered with a layer of
stratified epithelium.

The oesophagus derives its blood supply mainly by branches from the thoracic aorta and
the left gastric artery. The venous drainage is mainly into the azygos and left gastric veins.

The nerve supply is from the vagus nerve and the sympathetic nervous system.

 The Stomach

The stomach is a J-shaped dilated portion of the alimentary tract situated in the epigastric,
umbilical and left hypochondriac regions of the abdominal cavity.

The organs in association with the stomach are :

- Anteriorly, the left lobe of the liver and the anterior abdominal wall.
- Posteriorly, the abdominal aorta, the inferior vena cava, the vertebral column, the
diaphragm, the pancreas and spleen,
 - Superiorly, the diaphragm, the oesophagus and left lobe of the liver.
- Inferiorly, the transvers colon and the small intestine.
To the left, the left kidneys and the spleen.
To the right, the liver and duodenum.
 The Small Intestine

The small intestine is continuous with the stomach at the pyloric sphincter and leads into
the large intestine at the ileocolic valve. It is about twenty-one feet in length and lies in
the abdominal cavity surrounded by the large intestine.

For descriptive purposes it is divided into three parts.

The duodenum is given to the first ten inches of the small intestine leading from the stomach
which describes a C shape round the head of the pancreas and continues into the second part
called jejunum. The jejunum is roughly eight feet in length which lies coiled up in the umbilical
region and leads into the terminal part of the small bowel called ileum which is about twelve feet
in length. The ileocolic valve serves to control the flow of the contents of the ileum into the large
intestine, and to prevent the backward flow of the contents of the large intestine into the ileum.

The structure of the Small Intestine :

There are four layers of tissue forming the walls of the small intestine.

1. Peritoneum. This is the outer serous membrane covering.

2. Involuntary muscle. There are two layers of the muscle fibers under the serous
membrane.
3. Submucous layer. This consists of areolar tissue which contains blood vessels, lymph
vessels and nerves. It unites the muscular and mucous layers.
4. Mucous membrane lining. This is thrown into circular folds which greatly increase te
surface area of the small intestine. These folds, unlike the rugae of the stomach, are not
smoothed out when the intestine is distended. Between the columnar epithelial cells of
the mucous membrane there are large numbers of the simple tubular glands which secrete
the digestive juice of the small intestine called the intestinal juice. Projecting from the
surface of the mucous membrane there are a great many tiny finger-like processes called
 villi which are just visible to the naked eye. It is between the villi that the secretory
glands of the small intestine are to be found.
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