The upper GI tract digests your food and prepares it for

processing and utilizing nutrients throughout the body.

Problems with the upper GI tract can manifest symptoms
like burping, problems swallowing, heartburn, acid reflux,
upset stomach, or abdominal pain.
As you chew your food, saliva begins to break down the
food – starting the digestive process. Once food is
swallowed, it travels down the esophagus and into the
stomach for full digestion.
The stomach stores the food and begins breaking down
what someone has eaten while releasing pepsin and
hydrochloric acids. These acids further break down the
food and create a substance called chyme.
Chyme then sits in the stomach before moving down into
the small intestine, where the nutrients are absorbed. This
triggers the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas to begin
processing the nutrients.

The contents of the small intestine empty into the large

intestine, which is also called the colon. While food
travels through the colon, the water and salts are
absorbed. Once the nutrients are removed from the
food, the remaining materials become stool – which
moves into the rectum to be expelled from the body as
waste.

The lower GI tract can be examined in several ways,

including via a colonoscopy. As with an endoscopy, the
patient is placed under anesthesia for a colonoscopy.
 BODY
SYSTEMS
 The Axial Skeleton The skeleton is subdivided into two
major divisions—the axial and appendicular. The axial
skeleton forms the vertical, central axis of the body
and includes all bones of the head, neck, chest, and
back (Figure 1). It serves to protect the brain, spinal
cord, heart, and lungs. It also serves as the attachment
site for muscles that move the head, neck, and back,
and for muscles that act across the shoulder and hip
joints to move their corresponding limbs.
The axial skeleton of the adult consists of 80 bones,
including the skull, the vertebral column, and
the thoracic cage. The skull is formed by 22 bones. Also
associated with the head are an additional seven bones,
including the hyoid bone and the ear ossicles (three small
bones found in each middle ear). The vertebral column
consists of 24 bones, each called a vertebra, plus
the sacrum and coccyx. The thoracic cage includes the 12
pairs of ribs, and the sternum, the flattened bone of the
anterior chest.

The Appendicular Skeleton

The appendicular skeleton includes all bones of the

upper and lower limbs, plus the bones that attach
each limb to the axial skeleton. There are 126 bones in
the appendicular skeleton of an adult. The bones of
the appendicular skeleton are covered in a separate
chapter.

SKELETAL SYSTEM
The major passages and structures of the upper
respiratory tract include the nose or nostrils, nasal
cavity, mouth, throat (pharynx), and voice box
(larynx). The respiratory system is lined with a
mucous membrane that secretes mucus. The mucus
traps smaller particles like pollen or smoke. Hairlike
structures called cilia line the mucous membrane
and move the particles trapped in the mucus out of
the nose. Inhaled air is moistened, warmed, and
cleansed by the tissue that lines the nasal cavity.

The major passages and structures of the lower

respiratory tract include the windpipe (trachea) and
within the lungs, the bronchi, bronchioles, and
alveoli. Deep in the lungs, each bronchus divides
into secondary and tertiary bronchi, which continue
to branch to smaller airways called the bronchioles.
The bronchioles end in air sacs called the alveoli.
Alveoli are bunched together into clusters to form
alveolar sacs. Gas exchange occurs on the surface of
each alveolus by a network of capillaries carrying
blood that has come through veins from other parts
of the body.
The muscles of the upper extremity include
those that attach the scapula to the thorax
and generally move the scapula, those that
attach the humerus to the scapula and
generally move the arm, and those that are
located in the arm or forearm that move the
forearm, wrist, and hand. The illustration
below shows some of the muscles of the
upper extremity.

The muscles that move the thigh have their

origins on some part of the pelvic girdle and
their insertions on the femur. The
largest muscle mass belongs to
the posterior group, the gluteal muscles, which,
as a group, adduct the thigh. The iliopsoas,
an anterior muscle, flexes the thigh. The muscles
in the medial compartment adduct the thigh.
The illustration below shows some of the
muscles of the lower extremity.
 The human circulatory system consists of
several circuits:

 The pulmonary circuit provides blood

flow between the heart and lungs.
 The systemic circuit allows blood to
flow to and from the rest of the body.
 The coronary circuit strictly provides
blood to the heart (not pictured in the
figure below).

Blood and blood vessels

Blood from the heart is pumped
throughout the body using blood vessels.
Arteries carry blood away from the heart
and into capillaries, providing oxygen (and
other nutrients) to tissue and cells. Once
oxygen is removed, the blood travels back
to the lungs, where it is reoxygenated and
returned by veins to the heart.