what causes hiccups?

Answer 1

The exact cause remains a mystery despite centuries of contemplation. Hippocrates and Celsus associated hiccups with liver inflammation and other conditions. Galen believed hiccups were due to violent emotions arousing the stomach.

Many conditions are associated with hiccups, but none has been shown to be the cause of hiccups.

If you eat too fast, you can swallow air along with your food and end up with a case of the hiccups.

Any other practices that might irritate the diaphragm such as eating too much (especially fatty foods) or drinking too much (drunk people hiccup) can make you prone to having hiccups.
In these instances, your stomach, which sits on top of the diaphragm, is distended or stretched. Because they occur in relation to eating and drinking, hiccups are sometimes thought to be a reflex to protect you from choking.

Although associated with a variety of ailments (some can be serious such as pneumonia or when harmful substances build up in the blood for example from kidney failure), hiccups are not serious and have no clear reason for occurring.

Some medications contribute to hiccups. Decadron, a steroid used in cancer treatment, can cause hiccups, as do some other steroids.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Answer 2

damalujordan "Science Expert" is full of it.

Hiccups occur when a spasm contracts the diaphragm, a large sheet of muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. This spasm causes an intake of breath that is suddenly stopped by the closure of the vocal cords (glottis). This closure causes the characteristic "hiccup" sound.
The cause of hiccups:A very full stomach can cause bouts of hiccups that go away on their own. A full stomach can be caused by:

Eating too much food too quickly.
Drinking too much alcohol.
Swallowing too much air.
Smoking.
A sudden change in stomach temperature, such as drinking a hot beverage and then a cold beverage.
Emotional stress or excitement.

Heres the link to find out all about it "Science Expert"
http://www.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/ut1404.asp

Answer 3

Hiccup or Hiccough, characteristic sound that occurs when a sudden rush of air into the nasal and oral passages is abruptly cut off. Hiccups are caused by a spasm, or sudden, involuntary contraction, of the diaphragm (the muscular partition separating the chest and abdominal cavities).

Answer 4

Hiccups are involuntary contractions of your diaghragm muscle (the muscle you use when you breathe).

The exact causes are not actually known. But hiccups seem to be connected with irritation of nerves that go from the neck to the chest.

Answer 5

Hiccups are caused by a spasm in the base of the lung, often this is due to an oxygen bubble in the bronchae.

An easy cure is to breath in and out of a paper, (NOT Plastic), bag. As the co2 level increases in the re-breathed air in the bag, it dissolves the oxygen bubble and relieves the spasm.

Answer 6

Spasm in aesophagus region, causes hiccups: hold breath, or, drink water in small sips, or get some one to pat you on the back. Hiccups stop also when you're startled!

Answer 7

A hiccup or hiccough is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm; typically this repeats several times a minute.

Answer 8

Hiccups are are often caused by eating and drinking too fast. They can also be caused by wind becoming trapped inside us. Eating or drinking too fast means that the food or drink enters the stomach too early in the digestiive process resultiing in this condition.

Answer 9

Sometimes being really nervous it can cause hiccups.

Answer 10

Anything that can irritate the phrenic nerve can cause a diaphragmatic spasm (which is a hiccup!).