Duodenum

The bicarbonate buffering system is known as an acid-base homeostatic mechanism involving the balance of chemicals: carbonic acid (H2CO3), bicarbonate ion (HCO3-), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Its major role is to maintain the pH in our blood and duodenum along with other important tissues found in our bodies. Carbonic acid is a weak acid therefore in equal balance with bicarbonate in solution. This buffer system is written as: H2CO3 + H2O H3O+ + HCO3- This buffer is known as a homeostatic system…

A. Introduction Imagine yourself living with a medical condition that restricts you from eating certain foods that are rich in iron and foods that increase the absorption of iron. While it is impossible to completely avoid iron in your diet, even moderate amounts can be fatal in the long run, because your body absorbs more iron from the food that you eat than most people. For many years, hemochromatosis has been a mystery to medicine, and scientists all over the world have investigated the…

Gastroparesis is a disease presenting in delayed emptying of the stomach’s contents. This can be caused on the grounds of an array of issues. Although this pathology/disease/disorder affects 25-50% of subjects diagnosed with diabetes, it can also affect people that have had surgery, infection, or hypothyroidism (Gregg). This postponing of gastric emptying means that it takes longer than usual for contents to pass through the stomach. According to Stephen Goldfinger, M.D., “Normally, your…

Anemias are one of the most common types of blood disorders in the world and can be generally classified as a decreased amount of red blood cells/hemoglobin contained in the blood stream.2 There is more than one type of anemia and they can be classified into Microcytic, Normocytic, and Macrocytic Anemias. Microcytic is usually caused by a deficit of iron in the blood, Normocytic could be due to hemolysis or acute blood loss, and Macrocytic is caused by B12 or Folate deficiency.1,2 Although these…

is an organ located in the upper left quadrant of your abdomen behind the stomach. It helps to digest food by producing enzymes that are excreted into the pancreatic duct. The pancreatic duct runs the length of the pancreas and drains fluid to the duodenum to the intestines. The second function of the pancreas is to release hormones such as insulin and glucagon from the islets of Langerhans into the blood stream helping control blood sugar levels (John Hopkins, 2015). In pancreatic cancer,…

As M. tempus is an omnivore due to their monogastric digestive system, and is similar to a pigs digestive system, but with adaptations similar to that of bilbies (Thylacomyidae) due to the occasional low availability of prey and living food sources, resulting in adapted hindgut fermentation and a long digestive tract, (Tyndale-Biscoe C H 2005). Although M. tempus must ferment the consumed plant material, their gastrointestinal tracts are still incredibly different to those of foregut fermenters,…

1 Introduction Berberine (BBR), an isoquinoline alkaloid (Fig. 1), is isolated from many medicinal herbs, such as Coptidis rhizome (Coptis chinensis Franch.) and Cortex phellodendri (Phellodendron chinense C.K.Schneid.) (1). BBR has been used to treat microbial infection, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal (GI) diseases due to its antibacterial, antidiarrheal and strong antidotal properties (2, 3). In recent years, much focus has been put on its other potential bioactivities, such as…

Every time we eat the body functions to digest the food we are consuming. One of the organs of the digestive system is the liver which is placed in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen and plays a major role in the intermediary metabolism as it breaks down the fat, it produces bile acids and it is the key organ for detoxification. Liver diseases nowadays seem to be very common; especially in the Western world, it is estimated that 1 in every 10 adults suffers from a condition called…

Blood sugar regulation is the process by which the levels of blood sugar, primarily glucose, are maintained by the body within a narrow range. This phenomenon of tight regulation is commonly referred to as glucose homeostasis. Insulin and glucagon are the most well-known of the hormones involved. Blood sugar levels are regulated by negative feedback in order to keep the body in homeostasis. The levels of glucose in the blood are monitored by many tissues, but the cells in the pancreas's Islets…

Gastrointestinal Alterations As a clinician in is critical to differentiate between gastrointestinal disorders such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), peptic ulcer disease (PUD), and gastritis. Many of the presenting symptoms may appear similar in nature. However, upon exploration of the historical details, an accurate diagnosis can be concluded. This paper will review the pathophysiology of normal gastric acid stimulation and production and the related alterations that occur with GERD,…