Digestive System: In a Nutshell (Nursing)

00:01 So to wrap up our lecture on the digestive system.

00:05 Recall that the digestive system is responsible for the digestion and absorption of the nutrients that we ingest.

00:14 The GI tract of the digestive system begins at the oral cavity and ends at the anus.

00:22 Also, we have accessory organs not associated with the GI tract that are necessary for digestion and include the teeth, the tongue, the salivary glands, the liver, the pancreas, and the gallbladder.

00:39 The mouth is responsible for chemical digestion of carbohydrates and mechanical digestion of our ingested food stuff.

00:49 The pharynx is responsible for deglutition or swallowing which is going to move food to the esophagus.

00:58 The esophagus is responsible for propulsion of food toward the stomach by a process known as peristalsis.

01:08 The stomach and its acidic environment begins chemical digestion of proteins and also involves mechanical digestion of chyme.

01:21 The liver and the gallbladder are going to work to synthesize store and release bile salts that are needed for the breakdown of lipids.

01:31 The pancreas is going to synthesize enzymes that are able to break down all of the biomolecules that enter into the small intestines.

01:42 The small intestines is our primary absorptive organ of the digestive system.

01:49 It chemically digests substances and absorbs them into the blood.

01:56 The large intestines contains a diverse bacterial population that completes some chemical digestion as well.

02:05 The major function of the large intestines, however, is water absorption.

02:11 The rectum is going to collect and store feces until defecation occurs.

02:17 And defecation is going to occur through the anus.

02:21 The digestion of each biomolecule is accomplished in different portions of the digestive system.

02:28 Carbohydrates are digested in the mouth and small intestine, proteins are digested in the stomach and small intestine, lipid digestion mostly occurs in the small intestine, and nucleic acid digestion also occurs in the small intestine.

02:48 This concludes our lecture on the digestive system.

02:51 Thank you for listening.