Digestive System and Nutrition Terms
The digestive tract, liver, pancreas, nutrition, and metabolism of food. Browse definitions and meanings below.
What is gastroenterology?
Gastroenterology is the study and treatment of the digestive tract and the organs serving it: the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine, and the liver, gallbladder and pancreas. A gastroenterologist is a physician in that field, and much of the work involves looking inside with a camera.
Most of the vocabulary is built from the name of a part plus an ending saying what is being described. Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining, gastroscopy is looking inside it, and gastrectomy is removing part of it. Learning the roots once makes long words readable on sight.
Terms in this topic
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Clinicians divide it into four quadrants or nine regions, because where pain sits narrows down which organ is speaking.
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As a modifier it states where, not what, so an abdominal finding can belong to any of several body systems.
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The name records both incisions, one in the abdomen and one around the anus, and because the anus goes, the stoma is permanent.
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Clusters of abnormal tube-like glands in the lining of the colon and rectum.
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Absorption is the movement of digested nutrients, or a medication, from the digestive tract or another site into the bloodstream for use by the body.
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A human monoclonal antibody that is being used to treat colorectal cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
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A mixture of six herbs that has been used in China to prevent and treat diseases such as lung and esophageal cancers.
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A lack of hydrochloric acid in the digestive juices in the stomach.
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Named for the tonsil like tissue it was first pulled from, this virus family now doubles as a delivery vehicle for engineered genes.
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A substance being studied in the treatment of melanoma, liver cancer, and other types of cancer.
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The combined organs and tissues of the respiratory tract and the upper part of the digestive tract (including the lips, mouth, tongue, nose, throat, vocal cords, and part of the esophagus and…
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A substance that is being studied in the treatment of liver cancer.
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A progressive, chronic disease in which the bone marrow is replaced by fibrous tissue and blood is made in organs such as the liver and the spleen, instead of in the bone marrow.
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Alanine transferase is a liver enzyme, commonly abbreviated ALT, whose elevated blood level often signals injury to liver cells.
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A nutrient that that body needs in small amounts to function and stay healthy.
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Amanita phalloides is a highly toxic fungus responsible for most fatal mushroom poisonings, with symptoms that can appear deceptively delayed after ingestion.
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A nutrient in the vitamin B complex that the body needs in small amounts to function and stay healthy.
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An enlargement of the ducts from the liver and pancreas at the point where they enter the small intestine.
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Cancer that forms in the ampulla of Vater (an enlargement of the ducts from the liver and pancreas where they join and enter the small intestine).
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It sits at a narrow bottleneck, blocks bile early, and is often found while small, which is why it fares better than its neighbors.