what protects the stomach from digesting itself

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What is the mucous that protects the stomach called?

These mucous producing cells are called goblet cells for their shape. This mucous coats the stomach lining and protects it. A healthy stomach has a balance of the digestive agents, pepsin and hydrochloric acid, and protective mucous production and bicarbonate secretions.

What is the function of the stomach?

The stomach is much more than a simple reservoir, although it does serve this function. Stomach cells produce pepsin, an enzyme that digests proteins. To prevent pepsin from digesting the very cells that produce it , an inactive precursor -- pepsinogen -- is secreted.

How does pepsinogen work?

Pepsinogen is converted to pepsin after touching hydrochloric acid secreted by other stomach cells. Two other protective mechanisms prevent the stomach from digesting itself. One is bicarbonate secretion, which can neutralize stomach acid. The other is the production of a mucous layer by cells. These mucous producing cells are called goblet cells ...

What was the stomach in the Renaissance?

In medical writings during the Renaissance, the stomach was depicted as an inert bag in which food would collect, putrefying. The concept of active digestion by secretions from the stomach lining was unknown. Two things happened in the 1820s that changed medical thinking.

Can the stomach protect itself from digestion?

Stomach can protect itself from digestion – Orlando Sentinel