Why do we  have hiccoughs?
815061
"Hic!" You've just hiccuped for what seems like the tenth time since you finished your big dinner. Wonder where these funny noises are coming from? The part to blame is your diaphragm (say: die-uh-fram). This is a dome-shaped muscle at the bottom of your chest, and all hiccups start here.\n\nThe diaphragm almost always works perfectly. When you inhale, it pulls down to help pull air into the lungs. When you exhale, it pushes up to help push air out of the lungs. But sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated. When this happens, it pulls down in a jerky way, which makes you suck air into your throat suddenly. When the air rushing in hits your voice box, you're left with a big hiccup.\n\nSome things that irritate the diaphragm are eating too quickly or too much, an irritation in the stomach or the throat, or feeling nervous or excited. Almost all cases of the hiccups last only a few minutes. Some cases of the hiccups can last for days or weeks, but this is very unusual, and it's usually a sign of another medical problem.\n\nYou've probably heard lots of suggestions for how to get rid of hiccups, and maybe you've even tried a few. Holding your breath and counting to 10 is one way some people can get rid of their hiccups. Other people say that drinking from the "wrong" side of a glass of water is the way to become hiccup-free.\n\nPutting sugar under your tongue might work, too. And maybe the most famous treatment - having someone jump out and scare you when you're not expecting it - helps some people wave good-bye to their hiccups. Boo!
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Hiccups are gulping sounds caused by involuntary spasms of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the muscle that separates the chest and abdomen and helps with breathing. Hiccups can be triggered if you eat too much or too fast, consume very hot or cold foods and beverages, or drink carbonated beverages. Other causes include cold showers, entering or leaving a hot or cold room, sudden excitement, and stress. \nHiccups are not a serious medical condition and usually disappear on their own within a few minutes. If they last longer than 24 hours, hiccups may be a sign of another condition or injury. You should see your health care provider if you experience prolonged hiccuping. \n\nHome remedies are usually the primary treatment for hiccups, although no one is really sure how well they work. Hiccup home remedies include sneezing, being suddenly frightened, holding your breath, gargling, drinking pineapple juice, drinking water rapidly, sipping ice water, or swallowing dry granulated sugar. These activities may help by altering breathing patterns.
25807
Hiccups occur when a spasm contracts the diaphragm, a large sheet of muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. This spasm causes an intake of breath that is suddenly stopped by the closure of the vocal cords (glottis). This closure causes the characteristic "hiccup" sound. A very full stomach can cause bouts of hiccups that go away on their own. Full stomach can be caused by: eating too much too fast, drinking too much alcohol, swallowing too much air, smoking, sudden change in stomach temperature, such as drinking a hot beverage and then a cold beverage, and emotional stress or excitement. Hiccups that last longer than 48 hours are called persistent hiccups. Hiccups that last longer than a month are called intractable hiccups.  Both persistent and intractable hiccups may be a sign of a more serious health problem and require an exam by a health professional. There really is no way to prevent them.
688469
because most of the time we are doing something on the computer or talking to someone we aint supposed to, so we are holding laughter in,  cause it will wake our other half up, lol
1074610
Sometimes, by the way we live, lack of sleep, poor eating choices, etc. Sometimes we're just hypochrondriacs stressed out for nothing. More often, it's not our fault.  It's bacteria, diseases & hereditary.
576346
THere isnt a scientific way to get rid of them. But some folk remedies are scaring people, eating a tablespoon of white sugar, or breathing in a paper bag. Hiccups are sudden, involuntary contractions of the diaphragm muscle. As the muscle contracts repeatedly, the opening between your vocal cords snaps shut to check the inflow of air and makes the hiccup sound. Irritation of the nerves that extend from the neck to the chest can cause hiccups.
1090300
anything with big (oversized, out-of-proportion) heads & big eyes look cute to us.....    because it reminds us of babies.....   which I think we all inherently, instinctively find cute....   otherwise we would drop them in the nearest trash receptacle the moment they started crying and screaming!    [I remember many times when my kids were young thinking "it's a good thing you are so cute...."]  I think it's a built-in safety mechanism to keep the species from dying out.     And Sanrio has discovered this propensity and is marketing the hell out of it!
687935
because the air causes their stomach muscle (i don't know the word in English) to be excited...so the muscle will contract rapidly, causing the air to go out quickly, with a sound...To end it, you must take a deep breath and hold your respiration for about one minute...keep the air in...this will relax the muscle and will cause you to stop the hiccups. when you let the air out, let it out easily, not quickly.
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When you hiccup, your diaphragm involuntarily contracts. (The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdomen. It plays an extremely important role in breathing.)\n\nThis contraction of the diaphragm then causes an immediate and brief closure of the vocal cords, which produces the characteristic sound of a hiccup. What actually causes the hiccup is difficult to say - in most instances, there is no obvious cause.\n\nAttacks of the hiccups seem to be associated with a few different things: eating or drinking too fast; being nervous or excited; or having irritation in the stomach and/or throat.\n\nIn some extremely rare cases, the underlying cause of hiccups can be pleurisy (inflammation of the membrane lining of the lungs and chest cavity), pneumonia, certain disorders of the stomach or esophagus, pancreatitis, alcoholism, or hepatitis. Any one of these conditions can cause irritation of the diaphragm or of the phrenic nerves that supply the diaphragm - it's the irritation that causes the hiccups.\n\nStill, the cause of most attacks of the hiccups remains a mystery.
365068
hiccups are caused when your body breathes and swallows at the same time causing  spasms (hiccups)
135816
Why?  Evolution.\n\nWhat purposes do they serve?  (ah, glad you asked...)\n\nThey keep sweat out of our eyes.\nProvide some amount of shade from the sun.\nAre used to communicate emotions through facial expressions.\n\n... and more!\n\nEyebrows!  I love 'em so much, I've got two!
856031
i have never heard of hiccups destroying brain cells. hiccups are actually caused when your diaphragm spasms.
676206
Why would it? Hickies are basically just bruises because blood vessels have been broken underneathe your skin.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiccup
200494
Hiccups are caused from air bubbles.  The best thing to do is to get a teaspoon of peanut butter and put the whole thing in your mouth and work on it and swallow.  Everytime my daughter gets them, that's what I use and as soon as she swallows the first bit, they're gone.
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A yawn is in response to too much CO2 in the blood stream.  When you yawn there is a negative feed back loop in operation which tells the diaphram to contract (take a breath) because there is too much CO2......the yawn actually increases CO2.\nThe sneeze is due to irritation in the beginning of the respiratory tract, it expells such things as dust, bacteria and other irritants from your nose and sinuses.\nA hiccup is a sligh malfunction or mistiming if you will of the glottis which is a membrane that closes in your throat to prevent food from going into your lungs when you swallow.  Whenyou ge tthe hiccups it starts to close while you are taking a breath or expelling a breath.  It just takes a bit of time for your body to reset when it closes
19027
I think the scientific explanation is that this is a behavior trait that is hard-wired into their brains through the wonders of natural selection.  When animals are born (including people), their brains (and actually their entire physical bodies) are pre-programmed to do certain things.  They eat when they're hungry.  They "feel" hunger when they haven't eaten in a while.  They run when they're scared.  They feel scared when they see, smell, hear, or feel certain types of things.  Their hearts beat.  Their eyes blink.  They sleep when they're tired.  Having these characteristics gave them the ability to survive as a species and be around today to be observed by us.  Animals who had hearts that didn't "know" to beat automatically didn't last long.\n\nSo flying south for the winter is an instinct that allowed birds to survive.  The many birds who lacked that instinct had more difficulty surviving.