NATS 1675 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Soft Palate, Gastrin, Xerostomia
Document Summary
Nats 1675 lecture #16 the digestive system and nurition. It consists of a long tube called a digestive tract [tube] and associated digestive organs such as salivary glands, pancreas, liver and gall bladder. The digestive tract in humans & other mammals is complete; basically long tube starting from the mouth till the anus. Starfish, jelly fish has one opening so it is incomplete but a digestive system needs 2 openings to be complete. Cavity of the digestive tract is called the lumen. It consists of 4 layers : the lumen is lined with the mucosa (a mucus membrane). This is the way the digestive tract moves food/substances along [in a wave-like movement] Its circular muscle will tighten up in the tube and pinches, so once you swallow the food, it pushes down by the longitundal muscles into the esophagus. The initial processing of food occurs in the mouth.
