oesophagus

esophagus is a hollow, muscular tube that carries food and liquid from your throat to your stomach. Muscles in your esophagus propel food down to your stomach. One of the most common symptoms of esophagus problems is heartburn, a burning sensation in the middle of your chest.

The primary function of your esophagus is to carry food and liquid from your mouth to your stomach. When you swallow, food and liquid first move from your mouth to your throat (pharynx). A small muscular flap called the epiglottis closes to prevent food and liquid from going down the “wrong pipe” — your windpipe (trachea). Another small flap called the uvula helps prevent liquid from passing upward into your nasal cavity.

How does the esophagus work?

At the opening of your upper esophagus, there’s a ring-shaped muscle called the upper esophageal sphincter. Your upper esophageal sphincter senses when food or liquid is coming toward it. When it gets the signal, the sphincter relaxes or opens so that food can enter your esophagus. When there’s no food or liquid in sight, it stays closed.

Once inside your esophagus, waves of muscular contractions (peristalsis) push the food downward. The food passes through your diaphragm and reaches your lower esophagus.

At the opening of your lower esophagus, there’s another ring-shaped muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Like the upper esophageal sphincter (UES), it senses when food and liquid are coming. It relaxes and lets the food pass through to your stomach. When no food or liquid is coming its way, it usually stays shut to prevent stomach acid and digestive juices from getting into your esophagus.

The stomach is a J-shaped organ that digests food. It produces enzymes (substances that create chemical reactions) and acids (digestive juices). This mix of enzymes and digestive juices breaks down food so it can pass to your small intestine.

Your stomach is part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The GI tract is a long tube that starts at your mouth. It runs to your anus, where stool (poop) leaves your body. The GI tract is a key part of your digestive system.

The wall of the large intestine has the same types of tissue that are found in other parts of the digestive tract but there are some distinguishing characteristics. The mucosa has a large number of goblet cells but does not have any villi. The longitudinal muscle layer, although present, is incomplete. The longitudinal muscle is limited to three distinct bands, called teniae coli, that run the entire length of the colon. Contraction of the teniae coli exerts pressure on the wall and creates a series of pouches, called haustra, along the colon. Epiploic appendages, pieces of fat-filled connective tissue, are attached to the outer surface of the colon

the Mouth

The oesophagus also known as food pipe / gullet is a muscular pipe that connects our mouth to our stomach . partly digested food , mixed with saliva is pushed through the oesophagus into the stomach .

No digestion occurs here.

The oesophagus opens into the stomach with a muscular valve. It prevents stomach contents from travelling back to our mouth.

The wall of the stomach also releases acid and gastric juice which mixes with food and continues digesting it.

The acid in our stomach kills all the microorganisms we ingest with our food.

Chemical digestion of proteins begins here.