MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY
English For Health Sciences
THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
PART II
LES
STOMACH
The stomach is the most distensible part of
the GI tract and lies in the epigastric region of
abdominal cavity below the diaphragm. It is
‘J–shaped’ pouch that connects the
esophagus with the duodenum.
The stomach has 3 main parts: fundus, body,
and antrum.
Rings of muscle called sphincters control the
openings into and leading out of the stomach.
They prevent food from regurgitating.
The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) relaxes
& contracts to move food from the
esophagus into the stomach.
LES
Folds in mucosa lining the stomach are called
rugae. The rugae increase surface area for
digestion.
The pyloric sphincter allows food to leave
the stomach when it is ready.
STOMACH
About 2 L of gastric juice is secreted daily
by secretary cells in the gastric mucosa.
It consists of water, mineral salts, mucus,
hydrochloric acid, intrinsic factor and
pepsinogens. Hydrochloric acid kills
ingested microbes and converts inactive
pepsinogen into active pepsin.
The small intestine is a long hollow
muscular tube about 6 m that
connects stomach with the large
intestine.
SMALL INTESTINE
