MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA. 1  Back pain - returning to work. 2  Back pain and sports. 3  Compression fractures of the back. 4  Lifting and bending the right way. 5  Lumbosacral spine x-ray. 6  Returning to sports after a back injury. 7  Spinal fusion. 8  Spinal fusion - slideshow. 9  Vertebroplasty - slideshow.
The mucociliary escalator is one of the major defense mechanisms, which protect the lung, and if the mucociliary escalator fails, it increases the risk that the normal and potentially pathogenic, inhabitants of the nose, throat and the back of the mouth, will descend into the lung, resulting in a potentially life-threatening pneumonia ( Anatomy and Physiology, 2013, p. 139).
The main function of the esophagus is to move food from the back of the mouth to the stomach. The adult esophagus is about 10 in (25 cm) long. It is consists of a layer of cells that secretes mucus and two layers of muscle, one circular and one longitudinal. This combination of muscles allows the esophagus to contract and propel food from the mouth the stomach. This rhythmic contraction is called peristalsis.