Epiglottis
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The epiglottis is a leaf-shaped flap in the throat that prevents food and water from entering the trachea and the lungs. It stays open during breathing, allowing air into the larynx. During swallowing, it closes to prevent aspiration of food into the lungs, forcing the swallowed liquids or food to go along the oesophagus toward the stomach instead. It is thus the valve that diverts passage to either the trachea or the oesophagus.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Epiglottis" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
