Why do I get hiccups when I drink alcohol?
In manga and anime, scenes of characters hiccuping after drinking alcohol are often depicted, and some people have probably experienced the trouble of not being able to stop hiccuping at a drinking party or party. Live Science, a scientific media, explains why hiccups are more likely to occur when you drink alcohol.
Can drinking alcohol really cause hiccups? | Live Science
Although there are many clinical case reports suggesting a link between alcohol and hiccups, George Koob , director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Dependence , has specifically investigated the direct link between alcohol and hiccups. He told Live Science that he was unaware of the research.
However, several hypotheses have been proposed for the mechanism by which alcohol causes hiccups. One of these is that ethanol, a type of alcohol , disrupts nerve signals in the body, causing hiccups.
The characteristic 'hiccough' sound occurs when the diaphragm , a dome-shaped muscle that contracts and relaxes to aid in breathing, unintentionally spasms and the glottis quickly closes. Like other muscles, the diaphragm moves by receiving nerve signals, but ethanol may disrupt this signal transmission.
'Existing literature on the effects of alcohol on the respiratory system suggests that alcohol impairs the normal functioning of the upper airway and diaphragm muscles by affecting communication between nerve cells and muscle fibers,' Koob said. 'We support the hypothesis that it causes hiccups.' For example, a study examining the effects of alcohol on the rat diaphragm showed that ethanol disrupted signal transmission between the nerves and muscles of the rat's diaphragm.
The phenomenon of hiccups when drunk may also be related to gastroesophageal reflux disease , where stomach contents flow back into the esophagus. Alcohol relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter, a ring-shaped muscle that separates the esophagus and stomach, causing the valve to malfunction and causing stomach contents to flow backwards.
'We don't know if there is a direct relationship between alcohol itself and hiccups, but hiccups are known to occur more frequently in people with gastroesophageal reflux disease,' says Koob. . Studies suggest that up to 10% of people with gastroesophageal reflux disease experience repeated hiccup attacks, and a 2018 meta-analysis found that the risk of developing gastroesophageal reflux disease increases in proportion to alcohol intake. It has been shown that this will happen.
Additionally, it should be noted that hiccups frequently occur not only in people with gastroesophageal reflux disease, but also in people with neurological disorders, liver disease, and pancreatic disease. Since alcohol is a major cause of these diseases, Koob pointed out that improving the illnesses caused by drinking too much alcohol may also help reduce hiccups.
The following article explains how to stop hiccups when they occur.
Is there a scientific way to stop hiccups? -GIGAZINE
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