New research finds there is significant variation in the anatomy of the human digestive system, with pronounced differences possible between healthy individuals. The finding has implications for understanding the role that the digestive tract's anatomy can play in affecting human health, as well as providing potential insights into medical diagnoses and the microbial ecosystem of the gut.
"There was research more than a century ago that found variability in the relative lengths of human intestines, but this area has largely been ignored since then," says Amanda Hale, co-first author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State University. "When we began exploring this issue, we were astonished at the extent of the variability we found."
"If you're talking to four different people, odds are good that all of them have different guts, in terms of the relative sizes of the organs that make up that system," says Erin McKenney, corresponding author of the study and an assistant professor of applied ecology at NC State. "For example, the cecum is an organ that's found at the nexus of the large and small intestine. One person may have a cecum that is only a few centimeters long, while another may have a cecum the size of a coin purse. And we found similar variability for many digestive organs."
In another striking example, the researchers found that women tend to have longer small intestines than men.
"Because having a longer small intestine helps you extract nutrients from your diet, this finding supports the canalization hypothesis, which posits that women are better able to survive during periods of stress," says Hale.
"Given that there is more variation in human gut anatomy than we thought, this could inform our understanding of what is driving a range of health-related issues and how we treat them," says McKenney. "Basically, now that we know this variability exists, it raises a number of research questions that need to be explored."
For this study, the researchers measured the digestive organs of 45 people who donated their remains to the Anatomical Gifts Program at the Duke University School of Medicine.
In addition to shedding light on the unexpected variability in human anatomy, this project also led to rediscovering the importance of teaching anatomical variation to medical students.
"It's particularly important in medical training, because if students are only learning about a 'normal' or 'average' anatomy, that means they are not going to be familiar with the scope of human variation," says Roxanne Larsen, co-author of the paper and an associate professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences at the University of Minnesota. "It's increasingly clear that the medical field is moving toward individualized medicine to improve patient outcomes and overall health and well-being. Garnering experience in understanding anatomical variation can play a critical role in helping future doctors understand the importance of individualized medicine."
"We're excited about this discovery and future directions for the work," McKenney says. "It underscores just how little we know about our own bodies."
Read the original post:
Significant variation in anatomy of human guts - Science Daily
- 'Grey's Anatomy': Meredith's Family Emergency Brings Up the Past - PEOPLE - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy: Cristina Yang's Return Prospect Gets Honest Response From Sandra Oh - Screen Rant - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- 'Grey's Anatomy' recap: Is Jo pregnant? - Entertainment Weekly News - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Shonda Rhimes had police protect her after 'Grey's Anatomy' finales - Business Insider - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy's Most Enduring Character Is a Real-Life Scrub Nurse - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Civil War | Anatomy of a Scene - The New York Times - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- How Frances Anatomy of a Fall Scored a Theatrical Release in China and Connected With Its Elusive Indie Audience - Variety - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Station 19 Season 7 Just Reversed A Major Grey's Anatomy Story With Sully & Natasha - Screen Rant - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Why Sandra Oh Doesn't Plan to Return to 'Grey's Anatomy' 'Anytime Soon' - PEOPLE - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy Confirms A Fatal Flaw In Meredith's Story After 20 Seasons - Screen Rant - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy: Jo Is 'Spiraling' from Pregnancy News (Exclusive) - PEOPLE - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Would Sandra Oh ever come back to 'Grey's Anatomy'? - New York Post - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Why Did Sarah Drew Leave Grey's Anatomy? - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- How to watch Greys Anatomy season 20 episode 5 for free - MassLive.com - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy Season 20, Episode 5 Recap: 6 Biggest Story Reveals - Screen Rant - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- How Shonda Rhimes Celebrated the 20th Season of 'Grey's Anatomy' And Yet Another History-Making Moment for ... - Shondaland.com - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Station 19: Ben & Carina's Grey's Anatomy Futures Carefully Teased By Showrunner - Screen Rant - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- 10 Best Ellen Pompeo Movie and TV Show Roles That Aren't Grey's Anatomy - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy: Cristina Yang's Return Prospect Gets Honest Response From Sandra Oh - imdb - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy: Meredith Was Missing Derek After Son's Medical Emergency, But Here's Why I Think She And Nick ... - CinemaBlend - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- The Anatomy of An Inning: Brayan Bello Attacks the A's - Over The Monster - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- A slice of life inside the Human Anatomy Lab at Cal Poly - Mustang News - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- SynthFest France 2024 coming April 19-21 with Synth Anatomy video coverage - Synth Anatomy - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy's Sandra Oh weighs in on Christina Yang return - Digital Spy - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy Season 20 Just Teased The Show's Next Great Couple - Screen Rant - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- The Art of Medieval Anatomy with Taylor McCall - Medievalists.net - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Anatomy of a Fall Actor Samuel Theis Accused of Rape by Crew Member on New Film - Yahoo Movies Canada - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Anatomy Of A Recession Update: What's Different About This Cycle? - Seeking Alpha - April 15th, 2024 [April 15th, 2024]
- Greys Anatomy Renewed For Season 21 By ABC - Deadline - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy to highlight Baton Rouge baby's rare medical case Thursday night - WBRZ - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- A Refresher on What Happened to Arizona on 'Grey's Anatomy' - Parade Magazine - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- How the 'Grey's Anatomy' Crew Works With Real-Life Doctors to Bring The Most Complicated Procedures to TV - Shondaland.com - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy Season 21 (ABC): What We Know So Far - Parade Magazine - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy Season 20: Premiere Date, Cast, Trailer, and Everything Else to Know - TV Guide - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Msica | Anatomy of a Scene - The New York Times - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy Season 20, Episode 4 Recap: 8 Biggest Story Reveals - Screen Rant - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy Season 21 Is Coming - IGN - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- 'Grey's Anatomy' Gets Another Season | Next TV - Next TV - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Greys Anatomy new episode: How to watch for free April 4 - MassLive.com - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy Misses a Major Opportunity with Arizona Robbins' Return - Den of Geek - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- New UN report outlines the 'Anatomy of a Genocide' in Gaza - Mondoweiss - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Arizona Returned to 'Grey's Anatomy,' But Did She Mention Callie? - Henry Herald - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Grey's Anatomy Season 20 Just Proved Maggie & Winston Won't Be Endgame - Screen Rant - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- The Fate of Grey's Anatomy Revealed After 20 Seasons - E! NEWS - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Why Anatomy Of A Fall Is Rated R - Screen Rant - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- 'Grey's Anatomy' Fans Get a Big Update About the Future of the Show - Gwinnettdailypost.com - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Anatomy Of A Fall's Best Scene Is A Brutal Reminder Of This Netflix Movie With 95% On Rotten Tomatoes - Screen Rant - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- This 'Grey's Anatomy' Death Changed the Series Forever - Collider - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- The Anatomy of An Inning: Kutter Crawford's Offspeed Heavy Debut - Over The Monster - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- 'Grey's Anatomy': Dr. Bailey's Best Moments From Her Intern Era - Bustle - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- 'Grey's Anatomy' renewed for season 21 - The Hindu - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Are French Courtooms Really Like That? Fact-Checking Anatomy Of A Fall - Screen Rant - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- What to Expect When Arizona Robbins Returns to 'Grey's Anatomy' - Gwinnettdailypost.com - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Why Did Arizona Robbins Leave Grey's Anatomy? What Happened to Jessica Capshaw? - Soaps.com - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- 10 Best Movies Like Anatomy Of A Fall - Screen Rant - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- I love Grey's Anatomy but we must call time of death - inews - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- 'Grey's Anatomy' Showrunner Explains How They Decide to Bring Certain Characters Back - Just Jared - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- The Best Sandra Hller Movies (Including Anatomy Of A Fall) And How To Watch Them - CinemaBlend - April 7th, 2024 [April 7th, 2024]
- Will Ellen Pompeo Be in Season 20 of 'Grey's Anatomy'? - Good Housekeeping - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Ellen Pompeo Marks Her Return as Meredith Grey in 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 20 First Look (Exclusive) - PEOPLE - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Meredith Returns To Seattle In First Grey's Anatomy Season 20 Trailer - Screen Rant - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Greys Anatomy: Ellen Pompeo Returns To Grey Sloan Memorial In Season 20 Teaser; New Updates On Altman, Interns & More Watch - Deadline - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Ellen Pompeo Returns to 'Grey's Anatomy' in Season 20 First Look - Entertainment Tonight - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 20 Teaser Meredith Returns to the OR - Collider - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- ANALYSIS: Anatomy of a slump ... It aint that bad here - Nets Daily - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Anatomy of a botched gangland hit Blanchardstown's nightmare before Christmas - The Irish Times - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Director Justine Triet on 'Anatomy Of A Fall''s nightmare couple and creating one of the year's buzziest scenes - Screen International - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Grey's Anatomy Season 20: Release Date, Cast, Story & Everything We Know - Screen Rant - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Sandra Hller on Breaking a No-Holocaust-Movie Rule for Zone of Interest, and Whether Her Anatomy of a Fall Character Is Guilty - Variety - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- 10 Times Grey's Anatomy Characters Cheated Death - Screen Rant - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Ellen Pompeo is Back as Meredith Grey in 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 20 Promo Watch Now! - Just Jared - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Ellen Pompeo Is Back on Greys Anatomy In Scintillating Season 20 Teaser - Decider - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 20 Cast Revealed: 15 Stars Confirmed to Return, 2 Actors Not Coming Back - Just Jared - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The 10 Best Episodes of 'Grey's Anatomy' of All Time, Ranked From Lowest to Highest Audience Score - Just Jared - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Gen V, Shoresy, and the Anatomy of 2023's Best Spinoffs - Paste Magazine - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- How to watch Anatomy of a Fall is it streaming? - Dexerto - December 14th, 2023 [December 14th, 2023]
- Every 'Grey's Anatomy' Season Is Coming to Hulu - Vulture - December 14th, 2023 [December 14th, 2023]
- Anatomy of a Fall steals the show at the European Film Awards 2023 - Euronews - December 14th, 2023 [December 14th, 2023]
- A Case of Thoraco-Omphalopagus Conjoined Twins: Clinical Imaging and Anatomical Classification - Cureus - December 14th, 2023 [December 14th, 2023]
- Every Grey's Anatomy Christmas Episode - Screen Rant - December 14th, 2023 [December 14th, 2023]