September 8, 2000 – Each family has its traditional recipe (s) to overcome a recalcitrant hiccup and the means available are endless. One of the funniest is offering a 100-franc note to the person struggling with the hiccups if they stop it immediately. On the other hand, there are four ways that keep coming back in popular solutions.
The first is to start breathing very shallowly, trying to get as little oxygen as possible.
The second is to breathe out completely through your mouth, then breathe in deeply through your nose and hold your breath for a slow count to ten.
The third is to drink 50 ml (about 1/4 cup) of red wine vinegar all at once.
The fourth consists of plugging both ears with the index fingers while drinking a full glass of water through a straw.
As curious as they sound, these homemade recipes have a good percentage of success because they have a real effect on the processes involved in hiccups. Hiccups are an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm that causes short, sudden, short breathing. It occurs when the vagus nerves (or pneumogastric nerves) in the brain are irritated, which stimulates the activity of the diaphragm. A low level of carbon dioxide (CO2) blood increases the hiccups. However, the first two means proposed increase the level of carbon dioxide dissolved in the blood, which would explain why they are effective.
As for the other two propositions, we can only say that they keep coming back in the things that people exchange with each other. There’s nothing stopping you from drawing your own conclusions by comparing them the next time you or your loved ones have an attack of hiccups. And let us know the result of your search …
HealthPassport.net
According to Prevention, October 2000
