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Why Do We Hiccup?

   



     If you’ve ever chugged a carbonated drink, felt overwhelmed by fear, or experienced a bloated stomach, you might have hiccuped soon after.  These and other actions and conditions can trigger hiccups, and sometimes they start for no clear reason at all. Hiccups—singultus in the medical world— occurs during the breathing process when the diaphragm breaks out of its normal rhythm of moving up and down and suddenly contracts involuntarily. When this happens, air rushes down the throat and hits the vocal cords as they shut, creating the “hic” sound.
 
    Although hiccups are a common occurrence, they don’t seem to have any real biological purpose. As to why they happen, one theory is that the nerves that control the vocal cords and the diaphragm get out of whack, for some reason scientists don’t understand. The malfunction could result from damage or irritation to those nerves. From an evolutionary standpoint, hiccups may have once been helpful in swallowing food or dislodging a stuck morsel.
  
    Humans start hiccuping very early: A fetus may hiccup in the womb. Some scientists think hiccups could help developing infants prepare for breathing once they leave the womb. Whatever their purpose, fetal hiccups are common. Hiccups be a sign of illness or hurt us on their own. Although most outbreaks last for only seconds or minutes, some people have endured nonstop hiccups for days or weeks. In those extreme cases, a person could develop problems with eating, sleeping, or breathing, and doctors recommend seeking treatment if hiccups last more than 48 hours. In 2007, a Florida teenager made the news when she hiccuped for more than five weeks straight, sometimes 50 times per minute. She couldn’t go to school and had trouble sleeping, and doctors couldn’t explain what caused this severe hiccuping bout. The girl received various medical treatments, including acupuncture, but it isn’t clear whether the hiccups responded to the treatment or finally just stopped on their own.


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