Learn more about the intestine. Financial assistance for medically necessary services is based on family income and hospital resources and is provided to children under age 21 whose primary residence is in Washington, Alaska, Montana or Idaho. For more information, see Website Privacy. Skip to navigation menu Skip to content. High Priority Alert. Close alert. Informational Alert. The small intestine has three parts:. Duodenum The duodenum is the first part of the small intestine.
Ileum The ileum is the third part of the small intestine. Ulcerative colitis causes inflammation, ulcers, and scarring of the large intestine. Symptoms include cramp-like abdominal pain and an urgent need to have a bowel movement. To address flare-ups of symptoms, a doctor may prescribe medications: aminosalicylates, corticosteroids , or immunosuppressants.
If the symptoms are severe and not responding well to medication, the doctor may recommend surgery. Depending on where the abnormal cells first form, the doctor may refer to colorectal cancer as bowel, colon, or rectal cancer. Taken as a whole, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in adults in the U.
A variety of tests can detect colorectal cancer, including a colonoscopy , a CT scan , and a biopsy. Most early forms of the cancer cause no symptoms, so screening and early intervention are crucial. Symptoms of colorectal cancer include :. Not all intestine-related health problems are preventable, but there are several ways to look after the gut, including :. If stomach or gut pain lasts for more than a few days and does not ease with home care, contact a doctor.
Also, a person should receive medical attention if they have :. Keeping the intestines healthy is crucial, and researchers continue to find new ways of treating related illnesses. It is important to be aware of warning signs, such as bloody stool. Overall, anyone who has a concern about their gut health should consult a doctor. Many factors can cause colon pain, including constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, and colorectal cancer.
Learn more about the causes of…. Ileus is a temporary and often painful lack of movement in the bowel. This can lead to a bowel obstruction. Ileus is a common complication of…. A volvulus occurs when part of the small or large intestine twists, causing a dangerous blockage.
In this article, learn about the causes and symptoms…. Gastrointestinal perforation is a hole in the wall of the stomach, small intestine, or large bowel. It is a serious condition that often requires…. What are the breasts? When you do eat, the saliva breaks down the chemicals in the food a bit, which helps make the food mushy and easy to swallow. Your tongue helps out, pushing the food around while you chew with your teeth. When you're ready to swallow, the tongue pushes a tiny bit of mushed-up food called a bolus say: BO-luss toward the back of your throat and into the opening of your esophagus, the second part of the digestive tract.
The esophagus say: ih-SOF-eh-guss is like a stretchy pipe that's about 10 inches 25 centimeters long. It moves food from the back of your throat to your stomach. But also at the back of your throat is your windpipe, which allows air to come in and out of your body. When you swallow a small ball of mushed-up food or liquids, a special flap called the epiglottis say: ep-ih-GLOT-iss flops down over the opening of your windpipe to make sure the food enters the esophagus and not the windpipe.
If you've ever drunk something too fast, started to cough, and heard someone say that your drink "went down the wrong way," the person meant that it went down your windpipe by mistake.
This happens when the epiglottis doesn't have enough time to flop down, and you cough involuntarily without thinking about it to clear your windpipe. Once food has entered the esophagus, it doesn't just drop right into your stomach. Instead, muscles in the walls of the esophagus move in a wavy way to slowly squeeze the food through the esophagus. This takes about 2 or 3 seconds. Your stomach, which is attached to the end of the esophagus, is a stretchy sack shaped like the letter J.
It has three important jobs:. The stomach is like a mixer, churning and mashing together all the small balls of food that came down the esophagus into smaller and smaller pieces. It does this with help from the strong muscles in the walls of the stomach and gastric say: GAS-trik juices that also come from the stomach's walls.
In addition to breaking down food, gastric juices also help kill bacteria that might be in the eaten food. If you stretched out an adult's small intestine, it would be about 22 feet long 6. The small intestine breaks down the food mixture even more so your body can absorb all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates , and fats. The grilled chicken on your pizza is full of proteins — and a little fat — and the small intestine can help extract them with a little help from three friends: the pancreas say: PAN-kree-uss , liver, and gallbladder.
Those organs send different juices to the first part of the small intestine. These juices help to digest food and allow the body to absorb nutrients. The pancreas makes juices that help the body digest fats and protein. A juice from the liver called bile helps to absorb fats into the bloodstream.
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