Quick Facts About Hiccup
April 25th, 2007
- Hiccup is also known as singultus and diaphragmatic spasm.
- Hiccups occur when a stimulus triggers the nerves which lowers the diaphragm (the muscle that separates the lungs from the abdomen), i.e. makes the diaphragm contract involuntary causing the person to take in a quick breath of air into the lungs. The nerves involved here are linked to the diaphragm.
The air then causes a brief closure of the glottis (located in the voice box, an opening between the vocal cords). The closure produces the “hic” sound for which hiccups are named.
- Most hiccups are harmless and they usually stop after a few minutes. Chronic hiccups are very rare. Those that last for months or years are usually called intractable hiccups.
- The longest hiccup ever known was experienced by an American pig farmer whose hiccups persisted from 1922 to 1987.
- Did you know that a fetus can have hiccups? They actually help strengthen the diaphragm and prepare the fetus for breathing.
- Most of the methods used to stop hiccups actually seek to alter the flow of air through the vocal cords so as to stop hiccuping.
Subscribe to my RSS feed for regular updates.
[…] I cannot fail to mention my gratitude to God for strength and wisdom, my parents who have been my source of inspiration, my sister and friends for their tips input and my husband, who has done many of the sketches you see throughout the site (while I added color to his drawings, some examples here and here and here). […]