Organ: Stomach

Stomach: Large digestive organ that receives food from the esophagus
Introduction: The stomach is the first digestive organ to receive food from swallowing. The food is acted upon by hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) and pepsin to start to break it down. The mixture of food and stomach secretions is called chyme. The stomach passes the partially digested chyme through the pyloric sphincter into the duodenum (the start of the small intestine).

Introduction: The food then enters the stomach, which has three mechanical tasks to do. First, the stomach must store the swallowed food and liquid. This requires the muscle of the upper part of the stomach to relax and accept large volumes of swallowed material. The second job is to mix up the food, liquid, and digestive juice produced by the stomach. The lower part of the stomach mixes these materials by its muscle action. The third task of the stomach is to empty its contents slowly into the small intestine. ¹

The stomach is part of the digestive system. It is located in the upper abdomen, under the ribs. The upper part of the stomach connects to the esophagus, and the lower part leads into the small intestine.

When food enters the stomach, muscles in the stomach wall create a rippling motion that mixes and mashes the food. At the same time, juices made by glands in the lining of the stomach help digest the food. After about 3 hours, the food becomes a liquid and moves into the small intestine, where digestion continues.²

Condition count: 36 ; see list below.
Organ types: Digestive system (127)
Produces: hydrochloric acid, mucus, pepsinogen, pepsin
Related organs: swallowing (0), duodenum (4), small intestine (7), throat (44), esophagus (16), epiglottis (2), peristalsis (0), chyme (0), pyloric sphincter (0)
Main condition: Stomach Conditions
Organs: all organs

Diseases list: The following list of medical conditions have 'Stomach' or similar listed as an affected body part in our database: