What's Up with Hiccups?

Last Updated (Wednesday, 02 December 2009 08:40) Written by Raymond Nakamura

After lunch the other day, I sat down to read a picture book to my daughter when I developed hiccups. I decided to try my standby method of drinking a glass of water while bent over, but this did not seem to help. I didn't really know what caused hiccups, but I imagined a gas bubble in my stomach and thought that being upside down would help. So I went on our stairs and stretched out upside down. This actually worked.

Hiccup Causes

I decided to get the low down on hiccups and all those so-called remedies you hear about. I was surprised to see how vague the understanding of hiccup causes seems to be. Under certain circumstances, something irritates nerves that get the diaphragm contracting in a pattern. When it contracts, this draws air into your airway, but then the glottis slams shut, resulting in the characteristic hic.

Hiccup Cures

Sometimes people develop a stubborn case, often as a side effect of some other ailment. In these cases, drugs can be used to settle down the diaphragm.

But most cases just come and go, sometimes for no particular reason. And its hard to test remedies because you usually can't intentionally induce hiccups. I suspect that some remedies are just distractions or sources of amusement for spectators of the afflicted. When your hiccups stop, you attribute it to whatever you were doing at the time.

Hiccup Origins

The diaphragm in humans is best known for its role in breathing. But it non-mammalian vertebrates, it plays an important role in keeping food down, especially when it's still moving. The many different remedies seem to fall into three main categories: psychological (distraction), drinking or eating, and breathing. This seems consistent with the idea that the wiring and piping in that area has changed jobs from being a fish to breathing air on land.

Hiccups do not seem to serve a purpose. They seem to be more of a side effect of old wiring. Life is not intelligently designed; it evolves using the parts at hand or fin. The next time I get a case, I'll remind myself that sometimes I just have to accept life's hiccups and hicdowns.