REALANATOMY
18 Digestive System
e digestive sys-
tem is the extensive environmental interface that makes
it possible to transfer nutrients, water, and electrolytes
from the food we eat into the body’s internal environ-
ment. is is made possible by a complex lining,
which through a series of folds and a variety of small
to microscopic projections greatly increases the sur-
face interface between the digested contents within
the gastrointestinal organs and the numerous small
capillaries beneath this lining. To better appreciate
the degree of this surface increase, realize that the
average total surface area of the skin of an adult
human is about 20 square feet, while the surface
area of the digestive system is approximately 2,500
square feet, or about the size of a tennis court. To
make the transfer across this extensive surface area
possible, the food we eat must be broken down
intosmall molecules that can be absorbed from the
digestive tract into the circulatory system, which
then distributes the molecular metabolites to the
cells. erefore, the digestive organs also function in
the mechanical and chemical breakdown of the food.
Developmentally the digestive system begins as a
simple tube called the gut tube or gut. As this simple
tube develops into the highly convoluted organs of the
adult anatomy, it undergoes structural changes that ac-
count for its various functions. ough these structural
changes lead to di erences in the tube from one region to
the next, there is a basic pattern of design throughout the
length of the tube. is structural pattern is responsible for
the general function of the digestive system. Modi cations of
this pattern allow for the variation in structure and function
along its length. is chapter will highlight the structural varia-
tion and underlying design of the digestive system.
Find more information
about the digestive
system in
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