This story is part of a series exploring human anatomy and physiology complexities. Each story in this collection showcases discoveries reshaping our understanding of the body's inner workings, ...

Through a collaboration between Cornell and the State University of Binghamton in February, scientists found that food grade nanoparticles may potentially have detrimental effects on the function and ...

The human small intestine is an essential organ that helps us absorb nutrients and vitamins from food. It is an average of 6 meters long and is covered with millions of villi that are separated by ...

A healthy digestive tract is the key to good health. The digestive process is complex and the digestive tract is designed to ...

This report describes the serial morphologic changes observed in peroral mucosal biopsies of the small intestine obtained before and after vitamin B 12 replacement from 8 patients with previously ...

A new study reveals that age-related changes in the gut microbiota directly impair intestinal stem cell (ISC) function and that restoring a youthful microbial environment can reverse this decline.

Doctors use laboratory tests, imaging studies, and endoscopic procedures to help diagnose short bowel syndrome, which affects nutrient absorption in the small intestine. Short bowel syndrome (SBS) ...

Everyone has bacteria in their gut. They play a key part in digestion. But these bacteria live mostly in your large intestine, or colon, not your small intestine. When too many of the wrong kind of ...