1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: Hey rain Stuff. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today's episode is 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: another classic. In this one, we go into the widely 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: annoying but surprisingly confounding causes and hears of hiccups. Hey 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today's question is how 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: do we get hiccups? Science isn't sure, actually, but it's 7 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,160 Speaker 1: not that medical science has been ignoring hiccups. When these 8 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:36,599 Speaker 1: spasms are frequent or persistent in adults, they can indicate 9 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: over a hundred different diseases and disorders, from multiple sclerosis 10 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:44,480 Speaker 1: to cancer to appendicitis, and hiccups themselves can get serious 11 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,919 Speaker 1: and what's called intractable cases. Hiccups don't stop for more 12 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: than a month and can go on for years without relief, 13 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: leading to complications like a regular heartbeat, weight loss, insomnia, 14 00:00:54,520 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: and emotional distress. Understandably, but okay, science isn't totally ignorant here. 15 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: We know the basics. Hiccups are reflexive spasms of the 16 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: diaphragm and glottis and more on both of those in 17 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: a second caused by irritation to any of several nerves. 18 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: Throughout your body. During normal, non hiccuppy breathing, you move 19 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: air into and out of your lungs, partially thanks to 20 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: contractions of your diaphragm. It contracts pulling downward as you inhale, 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: giving your lungs room to expand, then releases, relaxing upward 22 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: and letting your lungs contract as you exhale, and all 23 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: that air moves through your throat and importantly through your glottis, 24 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: which is the opening between your vocal cords. But during 25 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: a hiccup, at least half of your diaphragm for some 26 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: reason contracts sharply about eighty percent of the time, it's 27 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: just the left half. Go figure that contraction starts pulling 28 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: in a deep breath, but that breath gets cut short 29 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: by the glottis snapping shut about three hundreds of a 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: second later. The hicck sound comes from that sudden closure. 31 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: In most cases, hiccups are caused by irritation of the 32 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: fhrenic nerves, which control the motion of the diaphragm and 33 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: send your brain sensory information about what's going on in 34 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: various parts of your neck and body. That irritation is 35 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 1: usually from your stomach distending when you accidentally swallow air, 36 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: or when you eat or drink too much too fast, 37 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: especially carbonated beverages like soda or beer. In rarer cases, 38 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: lots of other irritations can be at fault more serious 39 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: than having over drank soda or beer, such as infections 40 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: of or trauma to anything that the fhrenic nerves touch, 41 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: like a tumor pressing against them in your neck, or pericarditis, 42 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:35,959 Speaker 1: which is the swelling of the membrane around your heart. 43 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,119 Speaker 1: Irritations of the vagus nerve can also be hiccup culprits, 44 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: possibly due to its connection to the larynx, along with 45 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: everything from your small intestine to the inside of your ear, 46 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: and lots of stuff in between. If you're looking to 47 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: get rid of hiccups, some of the most common home 48 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: remedies really are worthwhile. They work by either overloading the 49 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: frenic or vagus nerves or by interrupting your involuntary breathing cycle. 50 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: For nerve overload, try biting into a lemon, placing a 51 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: spoonful of sugar on the back of your tongue, pulling 52 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: on your tongue, or having a friend tickler scare you 53 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: on the respiratory and try holding your breath, gulping down 54 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: a glass of water, or breathing into a paper bag 55 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: and if nothing works, hiccups generally go away on their own. 56 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,519 Speaker 1: If they do stick around for more than forty eight hours, 57 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: see a doctor just in case. The purpose behind this 58 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: reflex is still a mystery. Some researchers say that they 59 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: could be vestigial spasms related to how our amphibian ancestors 60 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,559 Speaker 1: controlled their gills. Others postulate that they help with breastfeeding. 61 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: Hiccups can release small amounts of air from the stomach 62 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: into the esophagus, where it can be exhaled, so hiccups 63 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: might serve to get air out of baby stomachs, making 64 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: more space for milk. Today's episode is based on a 65 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: script that I wrote for a brain stuff video for 66 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot Com. The brain Stuff is production 67 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works 68 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more 69 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: podcasts my heart Radio, visit the a heart Radio app, 70 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.