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Why do we get hiccups?

A hiccup is a kind of forced intake of breath, caused by muscle spasms in your chest and throat. There are over 100 causes for hiccups, but the most common is irritation of the stomach or the oesophagus - the food tube that leads to it. The "hic" noise comes when the breath is cut off by the snapping shut of your glottis - which is like a fleshy lid or trapdoor that separates the food and air tubes in your throat.
Sometimes hiccups will occur because of a disturbance to the nerve pathways from the brain to the muscles involved.his explains why hiccups may occur with temperature changes or emotional situations.

Persistent hiccups may signify problems in the brain, spinal cord or any of the structures around the diaphragm or chest wall.


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