It's these hollow organs that do the actual moving, digesting, and absorbing of food, and they include your mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, and small and large intestines.
The resulting ball of mush actually has its own special name — it's a bolus and the tongue rolls it back to the pharynx, in preparation for swallowing.
Another complication is when the reflux goes all the way back up to the pharynx, and then into the larynx, in which case it can cause laryngitis or even asthma.
The esophagus is a long tube going from the pharynx to the stomach, and it's connected to the pharynx through the upper esophageal sphincter, and to the stomach through the lower esophageal sphincter.
During swallowing, the soft palate and uvula move upward to prevent food from entering the nasal cavity, the uvula also helps to guide the food into the pharynx.
Below the nasopharynx and closer to the mouth is the second division of the pharynx, the oropharynx. The palatine tonsils, two rounded massed of lymphatic tissue, are located in the oropharynx.
Reflux laryngitis is another cause of chronic laryngitis and develops in people with severe gastroesophageal reflux disease where acid from the stomach goes all the way up the esophagus into the pharynx.
Alcohol is known to be a direct cause of seven different cancers: head and neck cancers (oral cavity, pharynx and larynx), esophageal cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer and colorectal cancer.