Posts Tagged ‘esophagus’

Thirty six percent of East Asians (Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans) show a characteristic physiological response to consuming alcohol that includes facial flushing , nausea, and tachycardia. This “alcohol blush” is now considered a risk factor for esophageal cancer, one of the deadliest cancers worldwide with a 5-year survival rate of only 15.6% in the United States. Heavy alcohol consumption greatly increases the risk for esophageal cancer among these individuals, who comprise about 8% of the world’s population. Therefore, by simply knowing whether you have this this characteristic response to alcohol, you can decrease your esophageal cancer risk by limiting alcohol intake.

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The morning after daylight savings time begins is usually more stressful due to the decreased amount of sleep we get. Which is why we will begin this week of doses with something less taxing…the anatomy of sword swallowing. First of all, did you know that sword swallowers really do swallow swords? There’s no trickery, illusion, or slight of hand here. All it takes is plenty of practice and getting your body to do what it reflexively doesn’t want to. Suppression of the gag reflex is the first thing, followed by learning to flick your epiglottis out of the way with the sword on the way down through your airway and into your esophagus, keeping in mind that your heart nestles right next to it and any wrong doing could potentially cause serious damage. The remainder of the feat requires you to navigate through the lower esophagus and finally into the stomach at which time you must suppress the stomach’s retch reflex. Sounds simple? Continue reading about removing the sword…

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