The Anatomy Of The Colon
The colon is also known as the large intestine and it takes water from feces. In mammals, it is made up of the ascending colon, transverse colon, and the sigmoid colon.
The ascending colon is on the right side of the abdomen and is 12.5 cm long. It is attached to the cecum to the hepatic flexure, which for most humans is the space behind the abdominal cavity.
The transverse colon is attached to the colon from the hepatic flexure and the splenic flexure, next to the spleen. It hangs off the stomach with a band of tissue covering it called the greater omentum. On the back side, it is connected to the posterior abdominal wall by something known as a mesentery.
The descending colon is attached to the spleen trough the splenic flexure to the sigmoid colon. The sigmoid colon is part of the large intestine that follows the large intestine, just before the rectum. It’s name means s-shaped and it’s walls are muscular and contract to put more pressure into the colon which makes stool moves into the rectum.
The large intestine follows the small intestine in what is known as the digestive tract. It measures 1.5 meters in length. The large intestine is primarily responsible for the storing of waste, water, vitamin absorption, like vitamin K and maintaining water balance. In the stomach, there is something called chyme. It is a liquid substance that goes through the pyloric valve and enters the duodenum and comes from the breakdown of all foods and materials. When the chyme reaches the large intestine, it’s nutrients and nearly all the water have been absorbed by the body. What is left are electrolytes such as sodium, magnesium, chloride, and carbohydrates. Once it moves thorough the large intestine, the rest of the water and liquids are removed and it is mixed with mucus and bacteria known as a gut flora and make what we know as feces. The bacteria breaks down the nutrients in the feces and creates waste products known as acetate, propionate, and butyrate. When it comes to the colon, there are a number of diseases that can afflict it. These include Angiodysplasia or small abnormalities of the gut. These are caused by gastrointestinal bleeding and anemia. They involve lesions which often affect the cecum or ascending colon and require endoscopic treatment, medication, and sometimes surgery.
Chronic functional abdominal pain, where there is pain, but no reason for it. Other conditions include Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Colon Cancer, Constipation or incontinence, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s disease, diarrhea, Diverticulitis, or pouches forming outside of the bowel, and Polyposis (polyps) or tumors that can become cancerous in the large intestine
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