the.com/ileum
the longest stretch of small intestine, where your meal's last nutrients get strip-mined before goodbye
means The ileum is the third and final section of the small intestine, where the last absorbable nutrients (especially vitamin B12 and bile salts) are taken up before what's left passes into the large intestine.
from From Latin ileum, itself borrowed from Greek eilein, "to twist or roll up" — a nod to the gut's coiled, looping shape. Beware its near-twin: ilium, the flaring blade of the hip bone, sounds identical and shares the same Latin neighborhood, and the two have been confused by anatomists for centuries. Same root, different organ — one is plumbing, the other is bone.
- prime length
- runs roughly four meters of coiled tube
- b12 gatekeeper
- only spot that absorbs vitamin B12
- immune fortress
- packed with Peyer's patches guarding against gut invaders
- name origin
- from Greek for twist or roll up
- valve finale
- ends at the ileocecal valve into large intestine
ileum of small intestine — the final 3.5 meters of small intestine in humans, where nutrient absorption occurs
ileum in dogs — the terminal portion of canine small intestine, often studied in veterinary anatomy