digestive system

[latin]

Hi what is the shape of the of the colon or the entire digestive system for that matter when there is no food inside? Obviously it widens when the food passes through but what shape does it take when there is no food? is there space or does it just fall in on itself? I hope you know what im getting at.

Thanks

[Health Dr. 1]

As with any other system in the body, the digestive system is very structured. It actually begins with the mouth, continues all the way through the stomach, small intestines, large intestines, and terminates in the rectum. The entire system is held in place by various connective tissues and muscles and does not simply collapse when there is no food in the system. There is some degree of expansion and contraction within the tract itself, particularly in the stomach. It contains numerous folds called rugae that appear literally as giant wrinkles in the empty stomach. These extend as food enters the stomach and can almost disappear.

The digestive tract is very complicated all the way down to the cellular level. I would also suggest looking at some university websites because one detailed picture can go a long way in explaining the basic structure. Also, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digestive_tract, has a very easy-to-understand outline of the digestive tract with links that further explain some of the structures.