For most of us, hiccups are nothing but a minor inconvenience. When we’re suddenly having hiccups, we can always just drink upside down or eat a spoonful of sugar. (It should be noted, however, that these “cures” are unreliable, contrary to popular belief). But for some of us who suffer from hiccups regularly, hiccups are a nightmare. Now there is hope for those people in the form of this specialized straw called HiccAway, which was invented by a neurologist.
… in a newly published research letter in JAMA Network Open, survey results from 249 volunteers around the world indicate that 90 percent of the users think this thing works better than traditional remedies.
The straw has a mouthpiece at one end and a pressure valve at the other, which requires you to suck harder than you would through a normal straw. This pressure causes your diaphragm to contract, stopping the uncontrollable influxes of air which rhythmically slam your vocal cords shut and cause the classic sound of a hiccup.
All that's required to stop these 'burps of the throat' is to submerge HiccAway in half a glass of water and begin sucking. Those who have used the device say it takes as few as one or two attempts for the hiccups to fade.
The Kickstarter product is currently patent-pending.
Learn more about this device over at ScienceAlert.
(Image Credit: HiccAway)
If one is diabetic, a spoonful of sugar could easily induce a hyper, or hypo, glycemic attack, perhaps leading to a coma or death.
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