Tuesday, 21 August 2012

A sneak peek into the reason behind peristalsis...


There are two types of muscles in the esophagus.

During peristalsis, one of the muscles will contract and the other will relax.

  • ·      Circular muscles (vertical muscles)
  • ·      Smooth muscles (horizontal muscles)

    
    When the circular muscles contract, it becomes shorter.
    
    When the smooth muscles contract, they make the opening of the esophagus smaller. (smaller diameter of the esophagus). 

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