why do we have hiccups ?

Question

and what are the cures for getting rid of it ?

Answer 1

its to do with the diaphram, its movement helps control our breathing and when it gets out of sync it causes hicups. the only way to corect it is to control your breathing in and out. eg holding your breath or dinking water

Answer 2

Hiccups are a result of breathing wrong (while laughing etc.) The ONLY SURE CURE that I know of (55 yrs old) is this: Get a small glass of water. Have a friend or someone stand behind you and hold their hands tightly over your ears. Drink the entire glass of water without stopping. You will feel like you are drowning---but keep going. When you are finished ---remove the hands from ears-----take a deep breath-----hiccups are gone. Have never known this method to fail---not once.

Answer 3

Hiccups are caused by a flap of skin called the epiglotis. It covers your windpipe when you swallow so the food does not find its way into your lungs. The epiglotis sometimes gets stuck inside of your windpipe. The hiccups come from your diaphragm forcing air out of your lungs, to dislodge it. The best way (and it actually does work) to get rid of hiccups is to hold your breath and swallow a few times. It is difficult to do, but it absolutely works.

Answer 4

its muscle spasm I think. Drink water from the wrong side of the glass - its messy but it works

Answer 5

MY CURE:
Get everyone in a room to stare at you and then get someone to shout at you to hiccup then when you dont its because they have embarrassed it out of you.

hiccup or hiccough (generally pronounced "HICK-cup" (IPA: [ˈhɪ.kəp]) independent of the spelling) is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm; typically this repeats several times a minute. The sudden rush of air into the lungs causes the glottis to close, creating the "hic" listen (help·info) noise. A bout of hiccups generally resolves by itself, although many home remedies are in circulation to shorten the duration, and medication is occasionally necessary. By extension, the term "hiccup" is also used to describe a small and unrepeated aberration in an otherwise consistent pattern. The medical term is singultus.

While many cases develop spontaneously, hiccups are known to develop often in specific situations, such as eating too quickly, taking a cold drink while eating a hot meal, eating very hot or spicy food, laughing vigorously or coughing, drinking an excess of an alcoholic beverage, or electrolyte imbalance. Hiccups may be caused by pressure to the phrenic nerve by other anatomical structures, or rarely by tumors and certain kidney disease. It is reported that 30% of chemotherapy patients suffer singultus as a side effect to treatment. (American Cancer Society)Ordinary hiccups are cured easily with no medical practices needed; in most cases they can be stopped simply by sitting down and concentrating on breathing patterns (deep breaths) for 1-2 minutes. However there are a number of anecdotally prescribed methods to treat casual cases of hiccups, these include being startled, drinking water while upside down, eating something very sweet or very tart (particularly lemon juice) [2], anything that interrupts ones breathing, and a variety of other treatments. Hiccups are treated medically only in severe and persistent (termed "intractable") cases. Haloperidol (Haldol, an anti-psychotic and sedative), metoclopramide (Reglan, a gastrointestinal stimulant), and chlorpromazine (Thorazine, an anti-psychotic with strong sedative effects) are used in cases of intractable hiccups. In severe or resistant cases, baclofen (an anti-spasmodic) is sometimes required to suppress hiccups. Effective treatment with sedatives often requires a dose that either renders the person unconscious or highly lethargic. Hence, medicating singultus is done short-term and is not a situation where the affected individual could continue with normal life activities while taking the medication.

Persistent and intractable hiccups due to electrolyte imbalance (hypokalemia, hyponatremia) may benefit from drinking a carbonated beverage containing salt to balance out the potassium-sodium levels in the nervous system. The carbonation promotes quicker absorption.

The New York Times reports that Dr. Bryan R. Payne, a neurosurgeon at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, has had some success with an experimental new procedure in which a vagus nerve stimulator is implanted in the upper chest of patients with an intractable case of hiccups. "It sends rhythmic bursts of electricity to the brain by way of the vagus nerve, which passes through the neck. The Food and Drug Administration approved the vagus nerve stimulator in 1997 as a way to control seizures in some patients with epilepsy. In 2005, the agency endorsed the use of the stimulator as a treatment of last resort for people with severe depression" [3].

In 2006, Francis Fesmire of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine received an Ig Nobel prize for medicine after he published "Termination of intractable hiccups with digital rectal massage" in 1988.[1] In an attempt to block the runaway messages on the vagus nerve, Fesmire found that the stimulation of the vagus nerve by digital rectal massage worked, stopping the patients bout of hiccupping. Fesmire also commented "An orgasm results in incredible stimulation of the vagus nerve. From now on, I will be recommending sex – culminating with orgasm – as the cure-all for intractable hiccups.", so perhaps this is a more efficient and desirable cure for intractable hiccups.

One possible beneficial effect of hiccups is to dislodge large chunks of food, which have become stuck in the oesophagus, or which are traveling too slowly. When a large piece of food is swallowed, which the natural peristalsis of the oesophagus is unable to move quickly into the stomach, it applies pressure on the phrenic nerve, invoking the hiccup reflex. This causes the diaphram to contract, creating a vacuum in the thoracic cavity, which creates a region of low pressure on the side of the lump of food nearest the stomach, and a region of high pressure on the side of the lump of food nearest the mouth. This pressure differential across the food creates a force, which assists peristalsis. In humans, gravity partially assists peristalsis, but in quadrupeds and many marine vertebrates, their oesophagi run roughly perpendicular to the force of gravity, so that gravity provides little assistance. The hiccup mechanism likely evolved as an aid to peristalsis in our ancestors. It only now appears to offer little benefit, because humans are upright, so that gravity assists peristalsis, making it very unlikely for food to become lodged in the oesophagus.

Ultrasounds have also shown that unborn children experience hiccups. Some suggested hypotheses include hiccups as a possible muscle exercise for the child's respiratory system prior to birth or as a preventive measure to keep amniotic fluid from entering the lungs[1]. More research is required to ascertain their true nature, origins, and purpose, if any.

Answer 6

Its trapped wind escaping!!!

Have a drink when its in your mouth tip your head upside down and then lift your head up and swallow and its like magic well it works for me

Answer 7

my mum used to tell me we got them from lying and to get rid you need someone to scare you

Answer 8

get someone to scare you