Myth Buster

MYTH: You can only solve your hiccups by drinking water.  

BUSTED:  “There are other ways to cure common hiccups, such as holding your breath. A hiccup occurs when there is an involuntary contraction of your diaphragm muscles. There are two nerve supplies to the diaphragm; the unconscious nerve supply and the other is conscious. So stimulation of the vagus nerve, which is one of the nerves connected to the diaphragm, can stop the hiccup. Measures taken to stop and counteract the hiccup are associated with activating the nerve. So stimulation, in the form of holding the breath, contracts the diaphragm. Adopting this method amounts to doing a counter maneuver to the hiccup, so that may help,” explained Professor Arjuna de Silva, Professor in Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ragama.