What cause hiccup?

No one really knows what triggers it. However, my son, who's 3 months old always gets them after a feeding. I have discovered that it's an evolutionary way for the body to release excess gases trapped in the stomach after suckling. Hence, from my own discovery, I think what triggers it is your diet mainly. On the contrary, I get hiccups if I eat spicy food. When I eat spicy food, I tend to eat it fast, so maybe as I'm eating I don't realize that I'm eating air in the process.

So back to my son, when I tap on his back, it goes away and he burps

I think it related to sensitization source, do nervous system trigger a false signal under this situation?

Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you very much for any suggestions (^v^)

Post Merge: 6 years ago

After 24 hour of eating related sensitization source, when I drink water, or eat other non-sensitization source, hiccup is back whenever stomach is filled.  I ready get no idea on how nervous system work.

Do you have any clues on what is going on from nervous system viewpoint?
Thank you very much for any suggestions (^v^)

There are alot of scientific words in this description, I hope it helps.

The hiccup reflex arc consists of 3 components, the afferent limb including phrenic, vagus and sympathetic nerves to convey somatic and visceral sensory signals, the central processing unit in the midbrain and the efferent limb traveling in motor fibers of phrenic nerves to diaphragm and accessory nerves to the intercostal muscles, respectively.

Central process of hiccup remains poorly understood, it may not only be confined to the medulla but may also involve other parts of central nervous system (CNS) located between brainstem and cervical spine.

The hiccup central component usually refers to chemoreceptors probably located in the peri-aqueductal gray matter and sub-thalamic nuclei. Among the neurotransmitters involved in the process of hiccup, both dopamine (D) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) have been documented.



The above pathophysiological basis explains why some inhibitors of these substances may be employed in treatment of hiccup. Accordingly, any physical and chemicals irritants and inflammatory and neoplastic conditions involving the hiccup reflex may cause hiccup. In addition, hiccup may be transient in many patients as spontaneous resolution of the stimuli that caused it might lead to its disappearance. Unfortunately, owing to the long trajectory of afferent and efferent nerves and the diffuse central processes involving the hiccup reflex arc, the accurate diagnosis of lesions in the arc and trying to terminate the pathological processes in the intractable events are often very difficult. As several types of lesion located along the hiccup reflex arc may cause it, hiccup is common and has been described as case reports in association with several conditions and has been treated with various types of treatment.

Source:
1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3325297/
2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3244169/

I just watched the video. It's so silly. Anyway, he mentions the phrenic nerve. What activates the phrenic nerve to shoot impulses out of control is still up for debate.


This makes sense to me, but maybe we can simplify it for everyone...?

I found it informative, but drinking water upside didn't make any sense

I would like to know on how to determine which case is applied on hiccup

1) physical and chemicals irritants, my belly feel like filled with gas, can I confirm this to be root cause? I still get hiccup after 24 hours.

2) physical and chemicals irritants, for your case, eating spicy food, once you drink a lot of water, and wait for a few hour, does your hiccup completely stop?

3) inflammatory, how to check and confirm that?


Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions

If you're experiencing uncontrollable and frequent hiccups daily, it's a serious matter that may be treated with medicine. According to one source:

"The pharmacotherapy of hiccup includes chlorpromazine, gabapentin, baclofen, serotonergic agonists, prokinetics and lidocaine. Non-pharmacological approaches such as nerve blockade, pacing, acupuncture and measures to hold breathing are also successful. Finally, alternative medicines and remedies are convenient to treat hiccups with uncertain effect. In conclusions, hiccup is likely to result from lesions involving the hiccup reflex arc. The lesion may need to be localized correctly for ablative treatment in patients with intractable hiccup."

The report also mentions that to treat it correctly, we need to know where along the hiccup reflex has damage occurred.

If it's something experienced occasionally, a number of things may be causing it, like as you mentioned in points (1) and (2). You need to increase CO_2 in your blood is rid of it and that's mentioned in the video you posted.

Not sure I understand what you mean by point (3).

I have tried hold my breath, this trick do not work and I get no idea on how CO2 affect the nervous system to remove hiccup if I have gas in my intestine, how CO2 works under this situation to remove hiccup?

Can I drink S.Pellegrino - sparkling natural mineral water to increase CO_2? Would it help?



Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks, to everyone very much for any suggestions (^v^)

Soda water like San pellegrino won't work because it gets neutralized almost instantly by our saliva, kidney, and intestines. Breathing in a bag works.

Also I can't seem to find a source that linked phrenic nerve impulses to CO2. if someone could cite that would be helpful

thanks

At this moment, my hiccup is gone with less gas inside intestine, which gas seems to be the main source for physical irritants, but that is not the root cause,  I would like to know on what make nervous system so sensitive, I saw ads that probiotics can reduce sensitive skin and promote immune defense and bowel movement, do I lack of probiotics within intestine environment? what role do probiotics play within digestion system?  

Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks, to everyone very much for any suggestions (^v^)

Probiotics are bacteria that live in the gastrointestinal tract and help to maintain a healthy microflora in that region. They are extremely important for digestion, but that's not what causes hiccups. Your stomach and your intestines are two separate things. Remember that the phrenic nerve innervates the diaphragm, stimulating respiration. Spasms of the phrenic nerve stimulates the hiccup reflex.