

This lungs differential across the food creates a force, which assists peristalsis. This causes the diaphragm 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. When a piece of food is swallowed that is too large for the natural peristalsis of the esophagus to move the food quickly into the stomach, it applies pressure on the phrenic nerve, invoking the hiccup reflex. One possible beneficial effect of hiccups is to dislodge foreign pieces of food, which have become stuck in the esophagus, or which are traveling too slowly. ( American Cancer Society) Diaphragmatic irritation can lead to hiccups. It is reported that 30% of chemotherapy patients suffer singultus as a side effect of treatment. Hiccups may be caused by pressure to the phrenic nerve by other anatomical structures, or rarely by tumors and certain kidney disease. 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, belching, eating very hot or spicy food, laughing vigorously or coughing, drinking an alcoholic beverage to excess, crying out loud (sobbing causes air to enter the stomach), some smoking situations where abnormal inhalation can occur (in tobacco or other smoke like cannabis, perhaps triggered by precursors to coughing), or electrolyte imbalance. By extension, the term "hiccup" is also used to describe a small and unrepeated aberration in an otherwise consistent pattern. A bout of hiccups generally resolves itself without intervention, although many home remedies are in circulation that claim to shorten the duration, and medication is occasionally necessary. The sudden rush of air into the lungs causes the epiglottis to close, creating the "hic" noise.

Ī hiccup or hiccough (normally pronounced "HICK-up" ( Template:IPAEng) regardless of spelling) is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm typically this repeats several times a minute. Risk calculators and risk factors for HiccupĮditor-In-Chief: C. US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Hiccup We conclude that neural mechanisms responsible for hiccups are strongly influenced by sleep state and that hiccups disrupt sleep onset but not established sleep.Articles on Hiccup in N Eng J Med, Lancet, BMJ Hiccups themselves were not responsible for any arousals or awakenings. Sleep efficiency was poor because of long waking periods, and there were deficiencies of both SWS and REMS. Sleep latency was increased from 8 +/- 16.3 minutes when hiccups were absent to 16.35 +/- 19.9 minutes when it was present. For the whole group, mean frequency decreased significantly from wakefulness to sleep onset or stage I (22.3 +/- 12.2). Frequency of hiccups within a bout slowed progressively from wakefulness through the stages of SWS to REMS. Of all 21 bouts of hiccups that were observed to stop, 10/21 did so during an apnea or hypopnea. There was a significant tendency for hiccups to disappear at sleep onset and REMS onset. The incidence of new bouts of hiccups and the likelihood of hiccups being present were both highest in wakefulness and became progressively lower through stages I-IV of slow wave sleep (SWS) to rapid eye movement sleep (REMS). To explore the effect of sleep on hiccups, we studied eight patients aged 20-81 years, all males with chronic hiccups lasting 7 days to 7 years, by means of overnight polysomnography.
