Hiccups
| Singultus | |
|---|---|
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | Otorhinolaryngology |
| ICD-10 | R06.6 |
| ICD-9-CM | 786.8 |
| DiseasesDB | 5887 |
| MedlinePlus | 003068 |
| eMedicine | emerg/252 |
| Patient UK | Hiccup |
| MeSH | D006606 |
A hiccup (/ˈhɪkəpˌˈhɪkʌp/ HIK-əp, HIK-up; also spelled hiccough) is an involuntary contraction (myoclonic jerk) of the diaphragm that may repeat several times per minute. In medicine, it is known as synchronous diaphragmatic flutter (SDF), or singultus, Latin for the act of catching one's breath while sobbing. The hiccup is an involuntary action involving a reflex arc. Once triggered, the reflex causes a strong contraction of the diaphragm followed about 0.25 second later by closure of the vocal cords, which results in the classic "hic" sound.
Hiccups may occur individually, or they may occur in bouts. The rhythm of the hiccup, or the time between hiccups, tends to be relatively constant.
A bout of hiccups, in general, resolves itself without intervention, although many home remedies are often used to attempt to shorten the duration. Medical treatment is occasionally necessary in cases of chronic hiccups.
Hiccups may be triggered by a number of common human conditions. In rare cases, they can be a sign of serious medical problems.
A recent explanation by Howes in 2012 suggests that hiccups may have evolved along with other reflexes developed in mammals that allow them to coordinate suckling milk and breathing. Hiccups are only found in mammals, and are most common in infants, becoming rarer as mammals age. This may suggest that they evolved to allow air trapped in the stomach of suckling infants to escape, allowing more milk to be ingested. The hypothesis suggests that the air bubble in the stomach stimulates the sensory limb of the reflex at receptors in the stomach, esophagus and along the diaphragm. This triggers the hiccup, which creates suction in the chest, pulling air from the stomach up and out through the mouth, effectively burping the animal. This theory is supported by the strong tendency for infants to get hiccups, the component of the reflex that suppresses peristalsis in the esophagus, and the existence of hiccups only in milk-drinking mammals.
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