The mucosal layer in the small intestine degrades with age in rats, allowing digestive enzymes to slowly escape and leak into organs outside the intestine, including the liver, lung, heart, kidney and brain. As the enzymes are unable to distinguish tissues from food, they break down collagen and destroy many receptors on cell membranes, such as the insulin receptor which leads to type 2 diabetes. The researchers call this process autodigestion. Digestion requires powerful enzymes that are synthesized in the pancreas. They are delivered from the pancreas into the lumen of the small intestine, where they digest all the food...