Research Paper On Esophagus

Usually when you swallow, the lower food pipe sphincter, it’s a round muscle band around the bottom of the food pipe, relaxes. So food and liquid can pass through. After that it closes again. If the sphincter relaxes unusually or weakens, the stomach acid can back up into the food pipe and common heartburn occurs. The continuous backup of stomach acid can aggravate the covering of the esophagus, what could lead to an inflammation of the esophagus (esophagitis). After a certain period of time the inflammation can erode the covering of the food pipe. Complications like bleeding, esophageal narrowing or Barrett’s esophagus (a precancerous condition) can

As I enter the mouth, there is already I liquid that the salivary glands have produced because of the scent of my delicious smell. The teeth begin to chop and grind me up into smaller pieces and with the help of the saliva, it breaks down the chemicals that created from , making it easier for them to swallow me. The saliva will help me through my twelve hour thirteen foot journey in the digestive system. The tongue then starts forming me into a small ball like shapes, and once it begins contracting it sends me back into the pharynx, also called the throat, and into the opening of the esophagus. The esophagus is a stretchy like tube that is about 10 inches long that I travel through to get to the opening of the stomach.

Digestion starts in mouth and it is going through several steps. Teeth which are a Mechanical digestion start tearing and crushing the food down into small pieces so that the food will smoothly run down our throat. The salivary glands are located underneath the back of our tongues and that’s what is creating our saliva. The saliva is the Chemical Digestion is helping soften the food in the mouth so it is easy to swallow. Also saliva is the first out of several chemicals that is breaking the food into smaller bits. The tongue is the muscle that works with the food and saliva to form something similar to balls that can be swallowed. Also tongue contains taste buds so that we know if the food is salt, sweet, sour or bitter. Esophangus is a simple transportation tube that is joining the throat with stomach. When swallowing we are closing a trap door in our throats called the epiglottis. By closing this trap we are preventing the food prom going to trachea and into our lungs. Also Food moves down the esophangus using muscles not gravity. Stomach is the first stop after the Esophangus. When the food gets into stomach the stomach uses chemicals to try to make the food smaller. These chemicals are called gastric juices and they include hydrochloric acid and enzymes. (Enzymes are

Swallowing is the movement of food from the mouth into the Esophagus. The esophagus secretes mucus and transports the food to the stomach via peristalsis.

Esophagus is located through the mouth. You go down the throat and into the stomach. I can remember this by tracing the path in the photo.

The process of digestion first begins in the mouth by in taking food (bolus). The teeth help with masticating (chewing and breaking food particles down) allowing for swallowing and increasing surface area for chemical digestion. Enzymes found in saliva also facilitates with the chemical break down of food primarily starches and fats. The food swallowed then enters into the esophagus (a tube connecting the mouth and stomach). Peristalsis helps the esophagus to push the food in the direction of the stomach. The stomach contents are highly acidic (doesn’t affect the stomach mucosa since cells secrete mucus allowing the stomach wall to be protected) with pH levels between 1.5-2.5 allowing microorganisms to be killed, breaking down of food, and activating digestive enzymes producing a thick substance known as chyme. However, breaking down of foods further occurs in the small intestine consisting of: bile created from the liver, enzymes formed from the small intestine, and the pancreas facilitate with further digestion as well as HCI denatures (unfolds proteins) allowing them to be available to attack by digestive enzymes (also responsible in breaking down the protein). The pyloric sphincter separates the stomach from the small intestine allowing the chime to drop into the small intestine. The small intestine is the primary site for

Gulp. Your favorite food, right in front of you. Mouth watering and eyes glued to the plate. A big inhale and the smell is even better than it looks. You just cannot wait to dive in and devour it, but how does one recognize what your favorite food is by just a sniff? Or what happens after you chew and swallow that meal? Mary Roach,“America’s funniest science writer”, will take you through the gates of the digestive system and explain everything one would ever want to know and more about what happens in the depths of the alimentary canal.

Once again my mini-sub and I will be miniaturized (8 microns long) and witnessing another ‘Fantastic Voyage’ in a human body. This time I will be swallowed by George, a 55 years old man, while he is eating his meal consisting of a hamburger, French fries and a soda. I will pilot my mini-sub through George’s GI (gastrointestinal tract), which is the tube that starts with the mouth and proceeds to the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, large intestine (or colon), rectum and, finally, the anus (Pansky, 2007). Along this pathway I will describe the digestion of George’s meal and the major structures that I will encounter. Arrived to the distal

Thirty seconds ago I was in my blueberry bush as a blueberry enjoying the sun, but now I am in the mouth of the human, in the process of being digested. The enzymes in the saliva started to chemically digest me, at the same time I was being mechanically torn and crushed by all thirty two teeth. Teeth are used to break down large pieces of food into smaller pieces so it is easier to digest. I was now going down pharynx and moving my way into the oesophagus. I saw the epiglottis close up as I was being pushed down, in a way called peristalsis. Peristalsis is the contraction and relaxing of muscles which push food. I continue my way down the oesophagus and find myself in contact with the gastric juices found in the stomach. The gastric juices

Describe peristaltic movement. Also called mixing waves pass over the stomach every 15 to 25 seconds.

As you can see, it is a tubelike structure made of muscle and lined with mucous membrane. The pharynx functions as part of the respiratory and digestive system because it is located behind the nasal cavities and the mouth. It is the structure that we refer to as the throat. It is about twelve and a half centimeters long and consists of three parts; the nasopharynx, oropharynx and the laryngopharynx. (Anatomy.tv, n.d.) The esophagus branches off of the pharynx which carries food to the stomach. Swallowing takes place in the pharynx partly as a reflex and partly under voluntary control. The tongue and soft palate pushes food into the pharynx, which closes off the trachea. The food then enters the esophagus. The esophagus is a muscular tube extending from the pharynx to the stomach. . (Mohan, 2010). It is about 25 centimeters long. The production of mucus by glands in the mucosal lining as you can see lubricates the tube to permit easier passage of food moving toward the stomach. (Thibodeau & Patton, 2008). Food is pushed through the esophagus and into the stomach by a series of contractions called peristalsis. The lower esophageal sphincter is just before the opening to the stomach. It opens to let food pass into the stomach and closes to keep it there. (Mohan, 2010).

into the larger lower part, reducing the amount of food the stomach can hold and slowing the

This report will discuss how esophageal cancer affects the esophagus. I will discuss how the cancer affects the normal operation of the esophagus, what causes esophageal cancer, how the cancer can be detected and how this cancer can be treated, I will conclude with a discussion of how common esophageal cancer is.

In a way, the esophagus is kind of like a stretchy and muscular highway that is about 10 inches long but rather than transporting people from destination to destination it transports food from the back of your throat and into your stomach. Besides your esophagus, also located at the back of your throat is what is known as your windpipe, which is connected to your lungs and allows air to enter and leave your body. When you swallow a small bit of bolus, a special