Misconceptions about Hiccups- mental_floss on YouTube (Ep. 45) | Mental Floss

Hi, I'm Elliot. This is Mental Philosophy Video. Today I'm going to talk about some misconceptions about getting rid of..

Hiccups. Okay, I want to start by saying that experts still aren't even sure why and how we get the hiccups

They believe it involves the vagus nerve, central processor, and diaphragm. So most treatments at this point are just old wives tales

We may not discover whether anything is an effective remedy until hiccups are studied and understood more

but scientists supposedly have better things to work on. It's possible that someday an item on this list will no longer be considered a misconception

and if that's the case, sorry future people, but you don't have to deal with hiccups anymore. So if you're really coming out on top, everybody wins, you guys

And with that said, misconception number one, hold your breath. The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine conducted a study on hiccups from 1995 to 2000

They tested various remedies on 54 hospital patients who had the hiccups, and holding one's breath was not found to be an effective cure

According to Tyler Simon, who conducted the study, quote, people have very interesting interventions but these aren based in science Some say that holding your breath and increasing carbon dioxide intake might help decrease persistent hiccups but there hasn been a study that proves this yet Misconception number two have someone scare you

This is another remedy that Simon tested in his study. Side note, I'm so glad I was not a participant in the study

It sounds awful. Scaring people is really mean. Anyway, he found this one to be ineffective too, and there's yet to be a study that proves this works

Misconception number three, breathe into a paper bag. This one is related to holding your breath

A lot of people think this technique helps increase carbon dioxide, therefore might help get rid of hiccups

But according to a scientific review published in the journal Anesthesia Progress, breathing into a paper bag falls into the category of treatments that are, quote

anecdotal or are based on dated publications that have failed scientific scrutiny

Still, the author notes that doing this won't harm the patient, so they can try it if they want

That's always the best, when scientists are like, yeah, go for it. Misconception number four, drink a lot of water

This is what I do, and it works 80 to 90% of the time. Bring it, scientists

Some people will recommend sipping water, chugging water, even eating ice chips. And this is another treatment listed in the article I just mentioned

Basically, it won't hurt you, but there's also no evidence that it's effective. Unless you've met me

Hi Misconception number five lemon with bitters This one actually had some promising results in one study so hey that exciting In 1981 two men had an 88 rate of curing hiccups by feeding participants a lemon wedge soaked in Angostura bitters So why is it on this list Well the

study only had 16 participants and it wasn't placebo-controlled. Even if it is effective

there's a condition. The hiccups have to be caused by alcohol. Misconception number six

acupuncture. There are a handful of studies that do claim to prove that acupuncture is effective in

getting rid of hiccups, but experts point out that these aren't blind or placebo-controlled

studies, and many will also say that acupuncture is considered just as effective a treatment for

hiccups as a placebo is. Misconception number seven, hiccup lollipops. Apparently there's a

product known as hiccupops, which contain water, sugar, and apple cider vinegar. It said that

vinegar can cure hiccups, but there's no science behind that. Are you guys picking up on a pattern

here? Do you see what's happening? The product is marketed as a hiccup cure, and the company claims

their product has an 80% success rate, but there's no scientific evidence. Even on their website

they specify that they plan to conduct clinical research, but haven't yet. That's expensive

guys. Give them some time. I doubt the hiccup pops are flying off the shelves. Misconception number eight hypnotherapy There have been a few instances in which an individual claims to be cured of hiccups thanks to hypnotherapy but when experts review all the studies and literature on this there not enough say it with me evidence to prove that it effective treatment Nailed it Misconception number nine medication If someone has very persistent hiccups it possible that

their doctor will prescribe the medication. Some that are used for this include chlorpromazin

baclofen, and haloperidol. But even still, studies have yet to prove that any of these

are consistently, say it with me, effective in the treatment of hiccups. You got it again

Misconception number 10, there's a confirmed cure for hiccups. So there are some things that seem

to produce results. Some studies seem to indicate that eating a spoonful of sugar or peanut butter works. Even orgasms and rectal massages are promising for getting rid of hiccups, that is

But according to one systematic review in 2012, quote, we searched for good quality studies that

involved adult patients 18 or older who had experienced hiccups for 48 hours or more

Our conclusion is that there is insufficient evidence to recommend a particular treatment for hiccups. Thank you for watching Misconceptions on Mental Floss Video. If you have a topic for an

upcoming Misconceptions episode that you would like to see, just let us know what it is down in the comments. I'm going to check them out. See you next week. Bye

We'll see you next week