Digestion and absorption
The path of food from mouth to rectum, what each segment secretes and absorbs (saliva, gastric acid, bile, pancreatic juice), the hormones that orchestrate digestion, and the diseases that reveal each step.
- 47 cards
- 5 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- On the diagram
- The steps
- Scenarios
- Understand
A few cards from the deck
Saliva: what is it?
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The salivary glands' secretion, which moistens the food bolus and starts digesting starch (amylase).
About 1 to 1.5 litres are produced a day.
The path of food: which step comes after "Mouth"?
- Pharynx
- Oesophagus
- Stomach
- Duodenum
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Pharynx
The duodenum receives bile and pancreatic juice, the jejunum and ileum absorb, the colon reabsorbs water.
Gastric juice: what is it?
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The stomach's secretion, made of hydrochloric acid, pepsin that cuts proteins, and intrinsic factor.
The acid kills most swallowed microbes.
Years after a gastrectomy, a patient has anaemia. Which deficiency is suspected?
- Vitamin B12, for lack of intrinsic factor
- Vitamin C
- Sodium
- Vitamin K
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Vitamin B12, for lack of intrinsic factor
The liver's B12 stores last several years, then run out.