Human Physiology

Answer of Question No.1

The gastrointestinal tract is made up of the mouth, esophagus (your food pipe), stomach, small intestine and large intestine. Each part works with each other to move the food along the digestive tract absorbing nutrients and discarding waste products. The food that you eat moves about 30 feet through the digestive tract. Proper digestion requires that the movement of food (peristalsis) be coordinated by the nerves and muscles that are part of the digestive tract. When food enters the gastrointestinal tract, it moves through the tract, thereby making the normal process of digestion and elimination of waste possible.

When nerves or muscles in any portion of the digestive tract do not function in a strong or coordinated fashion, this is called a motility problem, which can lead to many symptoms. These typically range from heartburn to constipation. Patients experience heartburn when their stomach acid goes the wrong way from the stomach up into the esophagus. The medical term for this is reflux. Many other children have problems with constipation because the contractions of the large intestine are strong but poorly coordinated. Another relatively common symptom is the delayed emptying of food from the stomach which can result in chronic nausea, abdominal bloating, and vomiting.

Gastroesophageal Reflux (GER) is a common gastrointestinal disorder. GER occurs when the stomach contents flow back up into the esophagus causing heartburn and/or vomiting. Reflux is often seen in infants because the valve between the stomach and esophagus does not work properly. Fortunately, this improves and in most children symptoms such as spitting up will improve by 7 to 18 months old. For most infants the frequent spitting-up does not interfere with the child's growth or health; however some children GER can develop more serious symptoms such as poor weight gain (sometimes called failure to thrive), wheezing or pneumonia from inhaling stomach contents, esophagitis (irritation of the esophagus) and developmental delay in oral motor skills. GER can sometimes lead to life-threatening conditions where the infant stops breathing (apnea).

Answer of Question No.2

Stomach growling, which originates in the stomach and the small intestine, can be explained by a closer look at how the digestive system functions. The digestive system is, in essence, a long tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the anus. This tube connects with the various organs and passages that play important roles in digestion. One of the most important things to know about the digestive system is the manner in which it propels food. Waves of muscle contractions move and push the contents continually downward in a process called peristalsis. In addition to moving your meal along its digestive path, these contractions also help churn food, liquid and different digestive juices together, rendering them into a gooey mix known as chyme.

In some cases, excessive gurgling and grumbling may be a sign of an upset stomach or a medical condition like irritable bowel syndrome. In these cases, there are usually a number of additional gastrointestinal complaints accompanying a growling ...