Digestive System Notes
Definition- The digestive system breaks down the food you eat into a form that your body can use.
The digestive Tract or alimentary canal is a closed system the food never leaves this long tube.
Types of Digestion
- Mechanical- the chopping up of food by the teeth and the churning of food by the stomach.
- Chemical- The break down of food chemically by enzymes and acid.
(Example: enzymes in saliva break down starch in the mouth)
Epiglottis - is a flap of cartilage that acts like a cover to our trachea (windpipe) so food or liquid doesn’t enter the lungs when we swallow.
Peristalsis- The muscular contractions by the digestive tract that push the food along. This starts in the esophagus as soon as you swallow.
Esophagus - Muscular tube that connects the mouth with the stomach.
Stomach- Food enters the stomach and is held there for three to four hours. Protein digestion begins when hydrochloric acid, and enzymes in the stomach chemically breakdown the food. The stomach also contracts and mixes the food. When food leaves the stomach it is almost a liquid, which is called Chyme.
Small Intestines- Digestion is completed and this is where most digestion takes place. The liver and pancreas finish digesting the food in the first 12 inches of the SI. The pancreas produces enzymes that finish protein and starch digestion. The liver produces bile, which is stored in the gallbladder until needed to break up fat molecules. The absorption of all nutrients takes place in the SI because it is lined with finger like projections called villi.
Large Intestine (colon) - The liquid used in digestion is absorbed back into the body and some vitamins are produced.
Rectum- After the liquid is removed the material is stored as solid waste.
Alcohol Notes
Drinking alcohol is ethyl alcohol
Drug Classification - Alcohol is a depressant drug (makes you sleepy)
Production -Alcohol is made by either fermentation (wine and beer) or distillation (whiskey)
Proof - the term used to indicate the amount of alcohol in liquor.
How proof is determined- the proof is two times the percentage of alcohol in the liquor.
Example - If liquor is 40 % alcohol it is 80 proof
2 X 40 = 80
If I know the proof I can find the percentage by dividing by 2
80 proof/ 2 = 40 %
Even though the proof is different a regular drink of beer, wine and whiskey all have the same amount of alcohol in them about ½ an ounce. The reason the proof is different is because of the amount of water in each type of beverage is different.
Absorption of Alcohol
The alcohol molecule is very small, so it is able to pass through the stomach lining, if there is no food present and go directly into the blood stream. Food in the stomach will absorb the alcohol like a sponge and slow its absorption.
Removal of Alcohol from the body (OXIDATION)
The liver removes alcohol from the body by combining it with oxygen in a process called oxidation. The alcohol is changed into water and carbon dioxide. The liver can only oxidize ½ ounce and hour.
B.A.L. = Blood Alcohol Level this is the test given by police to determine if you have been drinking and driving. In the State of Illinois your bal has to only be 0.08 %. or about two drinks for a two hundred pound man.
Alcohol will affect you by the following:
- How fast you drink.
- How much you drink.
- How much you weigh.
- If you have eaten.
- How you feel.
- Other drugs you may be taking.
Why people drink
At Social events.
To escape problems
Teen because of peer pressure.
See older people doing it.
Seems grown up.
Alcoholism
A disease that occurs when people are addicted to alcohol.
Support Groups
Alcohol Anonymous
Holds meeting for those people trying to stop drinking. Reformed alcoholics run this group.
Alanon- support group fro those married to an alcoholic.
Alateen- support group for children of alcoholics
Damage done by alcohol
Cirrhosis- damage done to the liver, which causes the liver to stop working and eventually death.
DT’s-delirium Tremens- shaking and hallucinations caused by the withdrawal from alcohol.
