====== Hiccups (evolution of) ======

//Hiccups// (or// Hicoughs//) - as everyone knows - are semi-persistent, regular involuntary contractions (technically known as //myoclonic jerks//) of the diaphragm. immediately followed by laryngeal closure.

They can be brought-on by a wide range of triggers  - e.g. eating spicy foods etc. etc.. (Although almost always benign, they can also be a symptom of some diseases.)

Hiccups are so common that they are considered to be an in-built evolutionary trait - in other words presumably having some use in our evolutionary past.

There are a number of theories as how hiccups might have evolved, for example :

  * as an evolutionary remnant of earlier amphibian respiration ([[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12539245/|ref.]])
  * to facilitate greater milk consumption in young mammals ([[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3504071/|Ref.]])
  * as a way of dislodging food boluses stuck in the esophagus

Further technical reading [[https://www.ijsdr.org/papers/IJSDR2107006.pdf|The Patho-physiology of Hiccups - aComprehensive Review]] //IJSDR// , Volume 6 Issue 7.

( Note that there are a number of drugs used to relieve hiccups - but they have unknown mechanisms of action. e.g. [[content:medicine:drugs:lacosamide]] )