Why do we hiccup? See if this question can stump Dr. Charlotte Grayson.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Hey doc, why do we hiccup?
Well, if you’re asking what purpose hiccups serve, you’ve stumped me. There doesn’t seem to be any.
But I can tell you what causes them.
Hiccups usually occur because something has irritated your diaphragm – the muscle in the chest that helps control breathing.
Triggers include eating too much, drinking carbonated beverages, and experiencing sudden excitement.
The irritation leads to a muscle spasm, which causes you to suck in air quickly.
That “hic” sound happens when the opening between your vocal cords snaps shut on the rushing air.
Though we don’t know the reason for hiccups, there are a few theories.
One is that hiccups help unborn babies learn how to breathe on their own. This hasn’t been proven, but many pregnant women can feel their baby hiccuping in the womb.
Another theory is that hiccups are a holdover from our earliest aquatic ancestors, who breathed air into their lungs, and then forced it back out through their gills with a hiccup-like motion.
Even though hiccups are annoying, they’re not usually long-lived. Typically they go away on their own within a few minutes.
As for how to stop hiccups, everyone seems to have a favorite remedy….from eating peanut butter… to drinking water upside down… to having someone yell “boo” to scare you.
While there are no proven treatments, some make more sense medically than others.
For example, holding your breath or breathing into a paper bag is thought to help by increasing carbon dioxide levels in the blood, which can relax the diaphragm.
Personally my favorite is a spoonful of sugar. It may not always work, but it can definitely make having the hiccups a lot more pleasant!
For Stump the Doc, I’m Dr. Charlotte Grayson.