why do people get hiccups?

Question

like is it because u have to drink water

Answer 1

The cause of hiccups is simple: Usually something has triggered involuntary contractions in the diaphragm. You may have swallowed air when you were eating or drinking fast or taking a shower or when you suddenly got excited. You can get hiccups from eating an "irritating" food (usually gas inducers such as vegetables or beans) or from eating both hot and cold foods at the same time. Drinking alcohol or carbonated beverages can also set off those involuntary (hic!) contractions.
In short, just about anything can cause hiccups, says James Lewis, M.D., vice president for medical development at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and an authority on hiccup causes and cures.

But whatever the cause, quicker relief is in sight for you, because most hiccups disappear on their own in a few minutes.

Plugging your ears with your fingers for about 20 seconds can halt hiccups. Sticking your fingers in your ears temporarily short-circuits the vagus nerve, which controls hiccuping. That, in turn, interrupts the hiccup cycle.

Answer 2

The part to blame is your diaphragm. This is a dome-shaped muscle at the bottom of your chest, and all hiccups start here.

The diaphragm almost always works perfectly. When you inhale, it pulls down to help pull air into the lungs. When you exhale, it pushes up to help push air out of the lungs. But sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated. When this happens, it pulls down in a jerky way, which makes you suck air into your throat suddenly. When the air rushing in hits your voice box, you're left with a hiccup.

Some things that irritate the diaphragm are eating too quickly or too much, an irritation in the stomach or the throat, or feeling nervous or excited. Almost all cases of the hiccups last only a few minutes. Some cases of the hiccups can last for days or weeks, but this is very unusual, and it's usually a sign of another medical problem

Answer 3

The term "hiccup" derives from the sound of the event. "Hiccough" erroneously implies an association with respiratory reflexes. The medical term, singultus, is thought to have originated from the Latin, singult, which translates roughly as "the act of catching one's breath while sobbing."

Brief episodes of hiccups, which often induce annoyance in patients and merriment in observers, are a common part of life. Prolonged attacks are a more serious phenomenon and often a diagnostic dilemma. These attacks have been associated with significant morbidity and even death.

A hiccup bout is any episode lasting more than a few minutes. If hiccups last longer than 48 hours, they are considered persistent or protracted. Hiccups lasting longer than one month are termed intractable. The longest recorded attack is 6 decades.

Answer 4

Hiccups happen when your diaphragm is having spasms, swallowing air as we eat to fast will bring them on.

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiccup

Answer 6

Coz they eat/drink too fast?

Answer 7

i think from eating or drinking to fast will bring them on.

Answer 8

i heard cuz your heart is growing to give more love!