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Information about Ingestion

Ingestion is the consumption of a substance by an organism. In animals, it is accomplished by taking the substance in through the mouth into the gastrointestinal tract, such as through eating or drinking. In single-celled organisms, ingestion can take place through taking the substance through the cell wall.

Besides nutritional items, other substances which may be ingested include medications, recreational drugs, and substances considered inedible such as foreign bodies or excrement. Ingestion is a common route taken by pathogenic organisms and poisons entering the body.

Ingestion can also refer to a mechanism picking up something and making it enter an internal hollow of that mechanism.

Pathogens

Some pathogens are transmitted via ingestion, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Most commonly, this takes place via the fecal-oral route. This commonly takes place via an intermediate step, such as drinking water contaminated by feces or food prepared by workers who fail to practice adequate hand-washing, and is more common in regions where untreated sewage is common. Diseases transmitted via the fecal-oral route include hepatitis A, polio, and cholera.

Some pathogenic organisms are typically ingested by other routes.
  • Larvae of the parasite Trichinella encyst within muscles and are transmitted when the new hosts eat the infected flesh.[1]
  • The parasite Dracunculus is ingested in drinking water, which is contaminated with larvae released as the parasite emerges from the host's body.[2]
  • The bacterium Salmonella most commonly infects humans via consumption of undercooked eggs.[3]

Toxins

Foreign objects

Disk batteries, or button cells, are often mistakenly ingested, particularly by children and the elderly. They may be mistaken for pills because of their size and shape, or they may be swallowed after being held in the mouth while the battery is being changed. Battery ingestion can cause medical problems including blocked airway, vomiting, irritability, persistent drooling, and rash (due to nickel metal allergy).[4]

Pica is an abnormal appetite for non-nutritive items or for food items in a form not normally eaten, such as flour. Coprophagia is the consumption of feces, a behavior common in some animals.

References

1. ^ Trichinellosis. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (2004). Retrieved on 2007-04-17.
2. ^ Dracunculiasis. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (2005). Retrieved on 2007-04-17.
3. ^ Schroeder, Carl M. (2005). "Estimate of Illnesses from Salmonella Enteritidis in Eggs, United States, 2000". Emerg Infect Dis (serial on the Internet) 11 (1). Retrieved on 2007-04-17. 
4. ^ Battery Ingestion. eMedicineHealth.com (August 10, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
gastrointestinal tract (GI tract), also called the digestive tract, or the alimentary canal, is the system of organs within multicellular animals that takes in food, digests it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste.
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eating (formally, ingestion) is the process of consuming nutrition, i.e. food, for the purpose of providing for the nutritional needs of an animal, particularly their energy requirements and to grow.
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Drinking is the act of consuming a liquid through the mouth. Water, for example, is required for many of life's physiological processes, and excess or decreased water intake is associated with health problems.
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microorganism (also spelled as microrganism) or microbe is an organism that is microscopic (too small to be seen by the human eye). The study of microorganisms is called microbiology.
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cell wall is a fairly rigid layer surrounding a cell, located external to the cell membrane, which provides the cell with structural support, protection, and acts as a filtering mechanism. The cell wall also prevents over-expansion when water enters the cell.
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Nutrition is a science that examines the relationship between diet and health. Dietitians are health professionals who specialize in this area of study, and are trained to provide safe, evidence-based dietary advice and interventions.
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A medication, medicine or drug is any substance or combination of substances administered to human beings or animals to treat or prevent disease; alternatively to assist in medical diagnosis.
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Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear.
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Effects of foreign body entering through natural orifice
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 T 15. -T 19.
ICD-9 930 - 939

In physiology, a foreign body (Latin: corpus alienum) is any object originating outside the body.
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Excretion is the process of eliminating waste products of metabolism and other non-useful materials.[1] It is an essential process in all forms of life.

In single-celled organisms, waste products are discharged directly through the surface of the cell.
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A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host.[1] The term is most often used for agents that disrupt the normal physiology of a multicellular animal or plant.
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Plantae
  • Chromalveolata
  • Heterokontophyta
  • Haptophyta
  • Cryptophyta
  • Alveolata

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    • poisons are substances that can cause damage, illness, or death to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism.
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    A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host.[1] The term is most often used for agents that disrupt the normal physiology of a multicellular animal or plant.
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    In medicine, transmission is the passing of a disease from an infected individual or group to a previously uninfected individual or group. The microorganisms (bacteria and viruses) that cause disease may be transmitted from one person to another by one or more of the following
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    If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
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    Bacteria

    Phyla

    Actinobacteria
    Aquificae
    Chlamydiae
    Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi
    Chloroflexi
    Chrysiogenetes
    Cyanobacteria
    Deferribacteres
    Deinococcus-Thermus
    Dictyoglomi
    Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria
    Firmicutes
    Fusobacteria
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    Parasitism is one version of symbiosis ("living together"), a phenomenon in which two organisms which are phylogenetically unrelated co-exist over a prolonged period of time, usually the lifetime of one of the individuals.
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    fecal-oral route (or alternatively, the oral-fecal route or orofecal route).

    There are, usually, intermediate steps, sometimes many of them. Amongst the more common causes are: Water that has come in contact with feces and poorly treated before drinking; food
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    Drinking water is water that is intended to be ingested by humans. Water of sufficient quality to serve as drinking water is termed potable water whether it is used as such or not.
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    Feces, faeces, or fæces (see spelling differences) is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus (or cloaca) during defecation. The word faeces is the plural of the Latin word fæx meaning "dregs".
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    Hand washing is the act of cleansing the hands with water or another liquid, with or without the use of soap or other detergents, for the purpose of removing soil and/or microorganisms.
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    Sewage is the mainly liquid waste containing some solids produced by humans which typically consists of washing water, faeces, urine, laundry waste and other material which goes down drains and toilets from households and industry.
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    disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions. In human beings, "disease" is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes discomfort, dysfunction, distress, social problems, and/or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems
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    Hepatitis A
    Classification & external resources

    ICD-10 B 15. -
    ICD-9 070.1

    DiseasesDB 5757
    MedlinePlus 000278
    eMedicine med/991   ped/977
    MeSH D006506

    Hepatitis A virus


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    Poliomyelitis
    Classification & external resources

    ICD-10 A 80. , B 91.
    ICD-9 045 , 138

    DiseasesDB 10209
    MedlinePlus 001402
    eMedicine ped/1843   pmr/6

    MeSH C02.182.600.
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    Cholera
    Classification & external resources

    Vibrio cholerae: The bacterium that causes cholera (SEM image)
    ICD-10 A 00.
    ICD-9 001

    DiseasesDB 2546
    MedlinePlus 000303
    eMedicine med/351   ped/382

    MeSH C01.252.400.
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    larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians).

    The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly.
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    Trichinella
    Railliet, 1895

    Species

    Trichinella spiralis
    Trichinella pseudospiralis
    Trichinella britovi
    Trichinella nativa
    Trichinella nelsoni
    Trichinella papuae

    Trichinella
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    CYST see St. Theresa Point Airport.
    For hard-shelled resting stages of some small organisms, see encystment.
    A cyst (soft "c", rhymes with "list") is a closed sac having a distinct membrane and division on the nearby tissue.
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