Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Causes & Cures for the Hiccups
What causes hiccups, and why do folk-remedies like drinking water (or drinking water upside down), holding your breath, or having someone scare you seem to cause them to go away? (the 4th-Period Honors Chemistry class wants to know, since one of their classmates get hiccups easily)
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Hiccups are a common condition that affects nearly everyone. Hiccups involve the involuntary contraction of the diaphragm — the muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen and plays an important role in breathing. Each contraction is followed by a sudden closure of your vocal cords, which produces the characteristic "hic" sound.
ReplyDeleteMany people have home remedies for hiccups that they swear by, ranging from breathing into a paper bag to swallowing a teaspoon of granulated sugar.
Hiccups may result from a large meal, alcoholic beverages or sudden excitement. Rarely, hiccups may be a sign of an underlying medical condition. A bout of hiccups usually lasts only a few minutes. But in some people, about one in 100,000, hiccups may persist for months. This can result in malnutrition and exhaustion.
Hiccups are caused by involuntary contractions of your diaphragm — the muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen and plays an important role in breathing. This involuntary contraction causes your vocal cords to close very briefly, which produces the characteristic sound of a hiccup.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical/IM03070
for image of human body
All information from Mayo Clinic
Cures:
ReplyDeleteHiccups are little more than a reflex. You get them when the vagus nerve or one of its branches, which runs from the brain to the abdomen, is irritated. Experts say hiccups are most often a reaction to common digestive disturbances. And they're usually more a nuisance than anything else. Even infants hiccup, and the reflex continues, about three to five times a year, throughout life.
The home remedies used to stop hiccups are believed to work on two principles. One way to stifle hiccups is to overwhelm the vagus nerve with another sensation. The vagus nerve signals the brain that more important matters have arisen, so it's time to knock off the hiccups. Other methods interfere with breathing, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. This probably causes the body to become more concerned with getting rid of the carbon dioxide than making hiccups.
Here are some tried-and-true remedies for hiccups from both "camps."
http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/respiratory/13-techniques-to-cure-the-hiccups.htm