Hiccups

On Monday, one of my IA friends had a major bout of hiccups that lasted for about half an hour. We all had a good laugh about it as whenever he tried to speak, a hiccup would come and it would result in quite a loud guttural sound, that would resonate throughout the room for a while. Then one of my friends asked me this question, "What causes hiccups?" and that (as usual) got me wondering...

So today, I shall try to answer my friend's question and a little more. Hiccups are actually made by involuntary spasms of the diaphragm resulting in air being sucked into the lungs very quickly. This causes the a structure inside the throat (called the epiglottis) to slam shut, which gives hiccups their characteristic "hic" sound.

Ok, so now we know what causes the "hic" sound and what happens when you hiccup, but how about what exactly causes hiccups? Well, that's a very good question and apparently no one really knows. The diaphragm is controlled by nerves and a particular stimuli triggers the nerves to send the diaphragm into spasms, but what's the exact trigger we don't know. However, there are a number of actions or activities, particularly those that cause pressure on the diaphragm, that are known to result in hiccups in people from time to time. These include:

- Eating food too quickly
- Hot or spicy foods
- Indigestion
- Overconsumption of alcohol
- Overconsumption of food and/or drink
- Fizzy drinks
- Cigarette smoking
- Stress
- Bad odours
- Pregnancy

Now if you have a case of hiccups there are a number of ways to relieve yourself of it. Some of the methods work better on some people than others so try them all, if you can, and pick the best for you.

- Hold your breath (My personal favourite!!)
- Take deep breaths
- Breathe into a paper bag
- Eat a bit of fresh ginger
- Suck on a lemon
- Have a hot water and honey drink
- Eat a spoonful of sugar
- Drink a glass of water slowly
- Eat ice
- Gargle
- Sit down and lean forward over your knees
- Ask someone to give you a fright

Now, why hiccups occur? Well, scientists have also observed that babies in the womb start hiccuping after two month suggesting that it is a remnant of some primitive reflex, which occurs only when this brain circuit is accidentally triggered. Only one class of animals have the same action that actually serves a purpose - primitive air breathers that have gills in addition to lungs (eg frogs, tadpoles, lungfish). In their case, this hiccup action serves to push water over their gills while at the same time stopping water from entering their lungs by the closing the epiglottis. In evolutionary theory, most land animals evolved from sea creatures, but that happened around 370 million years ago. So why have we kept on hiccuping?

Scientists believe that "hiccupping before birth is just an early stage in the development of suckling, a little like learning to crawl before you can walk". So the hiccuping action was basically preserved to as it formed a building block for more complex motor patterns, such as suckling.

As normal as hiccups may seem, they are not always harmless and can be a sign of a disease. The advice is to seek medical help if your hiccups are chronic and persistent, lasting for more than 3 hours. Also if they affect your sleeping patterns, interfere with eating, occur with severe abdominal pain, or you spit up blood, you should immediately seek medical attention.

Click here for more information on hiccups and here for the article on "Why do we hiccup?"