What is the environment in the stomach, the norm and the deviations

Digestion is a complex multistage physiological process, during which food (a source of energy and nutrients for the body) that enters the digestive tract undergoes mechanical and chemical treatment.

Features of the digestive process

Digestion of food includes mechanical (moistening and grinding) and chemical processing. The chemical process involves a series of successive stages in the cleavage of complex substances into simpler elements, which are then absorbed into the blood.

This happens with the obligatory participation of enzymes that accelerate the processes in the body. Catalysts are produced by the digestive glands and are part of the juices they release. The formation of enzymes depends on what kind of environment in the stomach, the oral cavity and other parts of the digestive tract is established at one time or another.

Passing the mouth, pharynx and esophagus, the food enters the stomach as a mixture of liquid and ground with solids. This mixture under the influence of gastric juice turns into a liquid and semi-liquid mass, which is thoroughly mixed by peristalsis of the walls. Then it enters the duodenum, where it is further processed by enzymes.

On the nature of food depends on what kind of environment in the mouth and stomach is established. Normally, the mouth is slightly alkaline. Fruits and juices cause a decrease in the pH of the oral fluid (3.0) and the formation of an acidic medium. Products containing ammonium and urea (menthol, cheese, nuts) can bring the saliva response to alkaline (pH 8.0).

Structure of the stomach

Stomach is a hollow organ in which food is stored, partially digested and absorbed. The organ is in the upper half of the abdominal cavity. If you draw a vertical line through the navel and thorax, then approximately 3/4 of the stomach will be to the left of it. In an adult, the stomach is on average 2-3 liters. When you consume large amounts of food, it increases, and if a person starves - decreases.

The form of the stomach can vary in accordance with its fullness of food and gases, as well as depending on the condition of neighboring organs: pancreas, liver, intestine. The shape of the stomach is affected by the tone of its walls.

The stomach is an enlarged part of the digestive tract. At the entrance is the sphincter (gatekeeper's flap) - portioning the food from the esophagus into the stomach. The part adjacent to the entrance to the esophagus is called cardial. To the left of it is the bottom of the stomach. The middle part is called "the body of the stomach."

Between the anthral (terminal) department of the organ and the duodenum is another gatekeeper. Its opening and closing control the chemical stimuli emerging from the small intestine.

Features of the structure of the wall of the stomach

The wall of the stomach is lined with three layers. The inner layer is the mucosa. It forms folds, and its entire surface is covered with glands (a total of about 35 million), which secrete gastric juice, digestive enzymes designed for chemical processing of food. The activity of these glands determines which environment in the stomach - alkaline or acidic - will be established in a certain period.

The submucosa has a fairly thick structure, pierced by nerves and vessels.

The third layer is a powerful shell, which consists of smooth muscle fibers, necessary for processing and pushing food.

Outside, the stomach is covered with a dense membrane - peritoneum.

Gastric juice: composition and characteristics

The main role at the digestion stage is played by gastric juice. The gastric glands are diverse in their structure, but the cells that secrete pepsinogen, hydrochloric acid and mucoid substances (mucus) play the main role in the formation of gastric fluid.

Digestive juice is an unpainted odorless liquid and determines which medium should be in the stomach. He has a pronounced acid reaction. When conducting a study to detect pathologies, it is not difficult for a person skilled in the art to determine which medium exists in an empty (empty stomach) stomach. It is taken into account that in normal state the acidity of the juice on an empty stomach is relatively low, but with the stimulation of secretion it increases much.

A person who adheres to a normal diet, during the day, produces 1.5-2.5 liters of gastric fluid. The main process that takes place in the stomach is the initial breakdown of proteins. Since gastric juice affects the secretion of catalysts in the digestion process, it becomes clear in what environment the enzymes of the stomach are active-in acidic.

Enzymes produced by the glands of the mucous membrane of the stomach

Pepsin is the most important enzyme of the digestive juice involved in the breakdown of proteins. It is produced by the action of hydrochloric acid from its predecessor - pepsinogen. The action of pepsin is about 95% of the digestive function of gastric juice. About how high its activity, say actual examples: 1 g of this substance is enough to in two hours to digest 50 kg of egg white and curdle 100,000 liters of milk.

Mucin (gastric mucus) is a complex complex of substances of protein nature. It covers the gastric mucosa throughout the surface and protects it from both mechanical damage and self-digestion, as it can weaken the action of hydrochloric acid, in other words - neutralize.

In the stomach there is also lipase, an enzyme that breaks down fats. Gastric lipase is inactive and mainly affects the fat of milk.

Another substance that deserves to be mentioned is that it contributes to the absorption of vitamin B ₁₂ , the internal factor of Castle. Recall that vitamin B _{12 is} essential for hemoglobin transfer by blood.

The role of hydrochloric acid in digestion

Hydrochloric acid activates the enzymes of gastric juice and promotes the digestion of proteins, because it causes them to swell and loosen. In addition, it kills bacteria that enter the body with food. Hydrochloric acid is released in small doses, no matter what medium in the stomach, whether there is food in it or it is empty.

But its secretion depends on the time of day: it is established that the minimum level of gastric secretion is observed in the period from 7 to 11 am, and the maximum - at night. When food enters the stomach, acid secretion is stimulated by increased vagal nerve activity, stretching of the stomach and chemical effects of food components on the mucous membrane.

Which medium in the stomach is considered standard, the norm and the deviation

Talking about what kind of environment in the stomach of a healthy person, it should be borne in mind that different parts of the body have different values of acidity. Thus, the highest value is 0.86 pH, and the minimum value is 8.3. The standard index of acidity in the body of the stomach on an empty stomach is 1.5-2.0; On the surface of the inner mucous layer pH is 1.5-2.0, and in the depth of this layer - 7.0; In the final part of the stomach varies 1,3-7,4.

Diseases of the stomach develop as a result of imbalance of acid production and neyolization and directly depend on what kind of environment in the stomach. It is important that pH values are always correct.

Prolonged hypersecretion of hydrochloric acid or inadequate acid neutralization leads to an increase in acidity in the stomach. At the same time, acid-dependent pathologies develop.

Reduced acidity is characteristic of hypoacid gastritis (gastroduodenitis), cancer. The index for gastritis with a low acidity is 5.0 pH or more. Diseases mainly develop with atrophy of cells of the gastric mucosa or their dysfunction.

Gastritis with severe secretory insufficiency

Pathology occurs in patients of mature and advanced age. Most often it is secondary, that is, it develops against the background of another, previous disease (for example, benign gastric ulcer) and is the result of what medium in the stomach is alkaline, in this case.

For the development and course of the disease is characterized by a lack of seasonality and a clear periodicity of exacerbations, that is, the time of their occurrence and duration are unpredictable.

Symptoms of secretory insufficiency

• Constant belch with a rotten aftertaste.
• Nausea and vomiting during an exacerbation.
• Anorexia (lack of appetite).
• Feeling of heaviness in the epigastric region.
• Alternating diarrhea and constipation.
• Flatulence, rumbling and transfusion in the abdomen.
• Dumping syndrome: a feeling of dizziness after taking carbohydrate food, due to the rapid introduction of chyme from the stomach into the duodenum, with a decrease in gastric activity.
• Weight loss (weight reduction is up to several kilograms).

Gastrogenetic diarrhea can be caused by:

• Poorly digested food entering the stomach;
• A sharp imbalance in the process of digestion of cellulose;
• Accelerated emptying of the stomach in violation of the sphincter closure function;
• A violation of bactericidal function;
• Pathologies of the pancreas.

Gastritis with normal or increased secretory function

This disease is more often observed in young people. It has a primary character, that is, the first symptoms appear unexpectedly for the patient, because before that he did not feel any expressed discomfort and subjectively considered himself healthy. The disease proceeds with alternating exacerbations and respites, without pronounced seasonality. To accurately determine the diagnosis, you need to see a doctor, so that he or she can prescribe an examination, including an instrumental one.

In the phase of exacerbation, pain and dyspeptic syndromes prevail. Pain, as a rule, is clearly related to what kind of environment in the human stomach at the time of eating. Pain syndrome occurs almost immediately after eating. Less likely to worry is the muscle pain of the later (after some time after eating), perhaps a combination of them.

Symptoms with increased secretory function

• Pains are usually mild, sometimes accompanied by pressure and heaviness in the epigastric region.
• Late pains are intense.
• Dyspeptic syndrome manifests as an eructation of "sour" air, an unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth, a violation of taste sensations, nausea, which alleviates the pain by vomiting.
• Patients experience heartburn, sometimes painful.
• The syndrome of intestinal dyspepsia is manifested by constipation or diarrhea.
• Usually expressed neurasthenic syndrome, characterized by aggressiveness, mood changes, insomnia and fatigue.