Jejunum

Looks like

The middle stretch of small intestine, thicker-walled and more richly folded than the rest.

What it does

Absorbs most sugars, amino acids and fats.

Keeping it well

Regular meals and treating coeliac disease; this is the part that flattens when gluten is the problem.

Its parts

• Proximal part of jejunum
• Middle part of jejunum
• Distal part of jejunum

Related conditions

• Acute mesenteric ischaemia (gut stroke)
• Bowel obstruction
• Coeliac disease
• Crohn's disease
• Food poisoning
• Gastroenteritis
• Giardiasis
• Intestinal worms & schistosomiasis
• Intussusception & pyloric stenosis
• Iron deficiency
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Lactose & food intolerance
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Necrotising enterocolitis
• Radiation injury
• Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
• Typhoid & cholera
• Volvulus (twisted bowel)