Breaking down your food and bringing nutrients where they are needed…

 Breaking down key chemicals so they can be absorbed into cells  Starches into sugars  Proteins into amino acids

 Pharynx  Esophagus  Stomach  Small intestine  Intestinal villi  Large intestine (if still going…)  Blood stream  Brought to liver

 Enters through mouth, passes through pharynx, directed down esophagus into stomach  In mouth, amylase breaks starches into simple sugars  In stomach, pepsin breaks proteins down (only works at very low pH)  Broken down nutrients passed into small intestine  In intestine, bile from liver breaks lipids down

 Nutrients DIFFUSE into blood stream  Excess toxins broken down by liver  Excess glucose transformed into glycogen  Glucose and amino acids brought to mitochondria,  ATP  Amino acids leave behind N, removed as urine

 The liquid and remaining waste in your intestines continues into large intestine  Water and vitamins reabsorbed into blood stream at large intestine  All remaining materials are excreted as feces

 Secretes hormones into blood stream to keep constant level of glucose in blood  Insulin- tells liver to store glucose away as glycogen  Glucagon- tells liver to convert glycogen back to glucose  *Will cover this more in endocrine system

 Diffusion is restricted by the available surface area  Small intestine is 21 feet long, large is 5 feet long  Intestine lined with villi (much like lungs- increase surface area)  If cells involved in reabsorption are damaged, can lead to diarrhea

 Jaundice  Hepatitis  Cirrhosis  Gallstones  Appendicitis  Crohn’s disease

 Characterized by yellowing of infant’s skin  Bilirubin (broken down red blood cell) should be broken down by liver  Poisonous to body  If liver not yet functioning, yellow bilirubin builds up in blood stream  Babies put under light because light can also break down bilirubin until liver functions better

 Viral infection (or excess alcohol) causes damage to liver cells  Virus transmitted different ways (blood transfusion, contaminated water, contaminated food)

 Due to overuse of liver (excess alcohol, drugs)  Liver becomes non-functional tissue, blocks blood flow into liver  Can reverse if caught early enough

 Result of cholesterol forming large balls in gallbladder  Often result of high-fat diets, too much fried foods  If stones get large enough, can cause gallbladder to rupture, spilling bile into body

 Result of infection or buildup of feces  Appendix not able to move materials, cause swelling  Very painful, but once ruptured, pain ceases  Appendix must be removed, or can cause death

 Autoimmune disease  Immune system attacks parts of the intestine  Very little known about disease  Dietary restriction necessary for many  Treatment aimed at relieving symptoms- often removal of part of intestine is necessary