Why do people get the hicups?
440595
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 big hiccup.\n\nSome 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.
535353
Oh sure, it happens all the time. I don't know why you've only heard of ONE person dying. It happens everyday. This is what happens. When you get the hiccups, your body has been tricked into thinking that it can't get air. Why does this happen you ask? It's because when you eat beef that was grown with steroids it creates a chemical that reactes with a chemical in your diaphragm and it makes your body think that it is suffocating. Well here's the deal with that. Most people's bodies don't create enough of this chemical to do them any harm. But 1 out of 10 people's bodies make 4 times as much of this chemical as needed, so it reacts 4 times as strong which in turn creates a vacuum inside your lungs each time you hiccup and it finally implodes on your lungs...and you die.
456391
Because it contains a lot of sugar which in turn takes a lot of water for your body to process,there for you use more water to digest the soda than you get from it!
416025
maybe you're chronically dehydrated.  i believe that can cause hiccups.
1028453
When you hiccup, your diaphragm involuntarily contracts. (The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdomen. It plays an extremely important role in breathing.)\n\nThis contraction of the diaphragm then causes an immediate and brief closure of the vocal cords, which produces the characteristic sound of a hiccup. What actually causes the hiccup is difficult to say - in most instances, there is no obvious cause.\n\nAttacks of the hiccups seem to be associated with a few different things: eating or drinking too fast; being nervous or excited; or having irritation in the stomach and/or throat.\n\nIn some extremely rare cases, the underlying cause of hiccups can be pleurisy (inflammation of the membrane lining of the lungs and chest cavity), pneumonia, certain disorders of the stomach or esophagus, pancreatitis, alcoholism, or hepatitis. Any one of these conditions can cause irritation of the diaphragm or of the phrenic nerves that supply the diaphragm - it's the irritation that causes the hiccups.\n\nStill, the cause of most attacks of the hiccups remains a mystery.
4496
A hiccup or hiccough (generally pronounced "hiccup" 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" 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.\n\nWhile 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, or drinking an excess of an alcoholic beverage. Hiccups may be caused by pressure to the phrenic nerve by other anatomical structures, or rarely by tumors.
298772
Hiccups are the rhythmic contractions of the diaphragm muscle that separates chest and abdomen. The common causes of hiccups are : overeating and gastritis( swelling of the inner lining of the stomach). But the more dreaded ones could be uraemia (increased urea circulating in blood) or raised intracranial pressure due to brain problem. Simple ways to control hiccups are taking deep breaths and holding on for a while. drink cold water, keep looking upwards or eat some jaggery or some sweet lozenges.Metoclopromide tablet along with omeprazol capsule may help releiving gastritis.But if it is not stopping better see your doctor who would advise investigations to rule out kidney or brain problem.
601412
they are inflamed taste buds. cause can be many things but usually if your body is trying to fight off an illness you'll get them esp if nausea is part of the illness
815061
"Hic!" You've just hiccuped for what seems like the tenth time since you finished your big dinner. Wonder where these funny noises are coming from? The part to blame is your diaphragm (say: die-uh-fram). This is a dome-shaped muscle at the bottom of your chest, and all hiccups start here.\n\nThe 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 big hiccup.\n\nSome 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.\n\nYou've probably heard lots of suggestions for how to get rid of hiccups, and maybe you've even tried a few. Holding your breath and counting to 10 is one way some people can get rid of their hiccups. Other people say that drinking from the "wrong" side of a glass of water is the way to become hiccup-free.\n\nPutting sugar under your tongue might work, too. And maybe the most famous treatment - having someone jump out and scare you when you're not expecting it - helps some people wave good-bye to their hiccups. Boo!
551429
Swallowing a lot of air causes hiccups though I don't know why exactly. Surefire way to get rid of them: Hold your breath and take a few sips of water as you hold it. Wait about twenty seconds or so. This has never failed me.
167
Hiccups are sudden, involuntary contractions of the diaphragm muscle. As the muscle contracts repeatedly, the opening between your vocal cords snaps shut to check the inflow of air and makes the hiccup sound. Irritation of the nerves that extend from the neck to the chest can cause hiccups.\n\nAlthough 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.
614650
Hiccups are caused by spasm in the diaphragm, a muscle that lies under your lungs, basically it's a 'nervous twitch' in the diaphragm. If you can force the diaphragm to contract through one or two spasms it will 'reset' itself and the twitch will vanish.\n\nWhen you hold your breath you contract the diaphragm, and when you drink you hold your breath. So by taking along drink you are forcing yourself to hold your breath and  hopefully removing the twitch.\n\n\nA better cure is simply to hold your nose and close your mouth while 'breathing' out slightly for 30 seconds. Like you do to reset popped ears, but keep it up for at least 30 seconds.\n\nSame principle but it works far better than drinking water.
228631
Hiccups are caused by a sudden jerk in your diaphragm that causes you to breathe in air very quickly. When you breathe in, the air travels in your mouth and nose, through your windpipe and into your lungs. When your diaphragm jerks and you suck in air very quickly, the quick air flow causes the flap at the top of your windpipe to snap shut. This quick inflow of air and the snapping shut of the flap on your windpipe is the sound of hiccups. Your brain sends a message down to your diaphragm telling it to contract. But, we really do not know why the brain sends this message.
207246
Fill a glass with water and, bending over it, drink from the opposite side that you would normally drink from.  This contracts your muscles which are causing the hiccups and it never fails for me.....
881197
umm, because it's more appealing than having them spit it out or not finish or whatever.\n\nguys are rly picky tho. they should be happy they get anything. lol\n\n& plus, swallowing isn't so bad. XD
74650
That is a good question.  I'm sure people have been asking that question \nsince before recorded history.  And you know what? We still don't know.  \nThat is, no one knows for sure.  After reviewing 192 scientific \nreferences, one researcher concluded, "The purpose of the hiccup is \nunknown".  \nThere is no question that a hiccup is a contraction of the diaphragm (the \nmuscle that controls breathing between the lungs and the abdominal area).  \nAnd since the diaphragm is controlled by the phernic nerve, it is most \nassuredly involved as well.  In fact, if you cut the phrenic nerve, there \nare no more hiccups.  But what does that have to do with overeating, or \ndrinking too much alcohol, or eating too fast (some things thought to \nsometimes cause hiccups)?  In other words the real question is, "why do we \nhiccup?"  What, in the course of our evolution, made it possible for those \nwho hiccup well (whatever that is) to survive over those who didn't \nhiccup?  It is very possible that the hiccup is a remnant from a very \ndistant evolutionary past that has no use anymore and may not even be the \nsame thing it once was.  Or, it may server some yet unidentified purpose.
25807
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. A very full stomach can cause bouts of hiccups that go away on their own. Full stomach can be caused by: eating too much too fast, drinking too much alcohol, swallowing too much air, smoking, sudden change in stomach temperature, such as drinking a hot beverage and then a cold beverage, and emotional stress or excitement. Hiccups that last longer than 48 hours are called persistent hiccups. Hiccups that last longer than a month are called intractable hiccups.  Both persistent and intractable hiccups may be a sign of a more serious health problem and require an exam by a health professional. There really is no way to prevent them.