In anatomy, the stomach is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract used to digest food.
In general, the stomach's primary function is not the absorption of nutrients from digested food; this task is usually performed by the intestine.
In most animals, the main job of the stomach is to break down large food molecules into smaller ones, so that they can be absorbed into the blood more easily.
Latin names for the stomach include Ventriculus and Gaster; many medical terms related to the stomach start in "gastro-" or "gastric".
For more information about the topic Stomach, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Digestion Digestion is the process whereby a biological entity processes a substance, in order to chemically convert the substance into nutrients. Digestion ... >
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Cells of the stomach Parietal cells (also called oxyntic cells) are the stomach epithelium cells which secrete gastric acid. Parietal cells produce gastric acid ... >
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Gastrointestinal tract The gastrointestinal tract or digestive tract, also referred to as the GI tract or the alimentary canal or the gut, is the system of organs within ... >
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Saliva Saliva is the watery and usually somewhat frothy substance produced in the mouths of some animals, including humans. Produced in salivary glands, ... >
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Esophagus The esophagus (also spelled oesophagus/œsophagus), or gullet is an organ in vertebrates which consists of a muscular tube through which food ... >
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Heartburn Heartburn or pyrosis is a painful or burning sensation in the esophagus, just below the breastbone caused by regurgitation of gastric acid. The pain ... >
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Peptic ulcer A peptic ulcer is an ulcer of one of those areas of the gastrointestinal tract that are usually acidic. A more general term, peptic ulcer disease ... >
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Giardiasis Giardiasis (also known as beaver fever) is a disease caused by the flagellate protozoan Giardia lamblia (also Giardia intestinalis). The giardia ... >
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Ulcer An ulcer is an open sore of the skin, eyes or mucous membrane, often caused, but not exclusively, by an initial abrasion and generally maintained by ... >
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Stomach cancer Stomach cancer (also called gastric cancer) can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; ... >
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Note: This page refers to an article that is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the article Stomach at Wikipedia.org. See the Wikipedia copyright page for more details. Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
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