Why do we get hiccups?
[ 2006-04-21 09:08 ]
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.)
This 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.
Attacks 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.
In 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.
Still, the cause of most attacks of the hiccups remains a
mystery. |
hiccup: 打嗝
diaphragm: 橫隔膜
involuntarily: 不自覺(jué)地
contract:
收縮
abdomen: 腹部
cords: 聲帶
underlying: 潛在的，根本的
pleurisy: 胸膜炎
pneumonia:
肺炎
esophagus: 食道
pancreatitis:
胰腺炎
alcoholism: 酒精中毒
hepatitis:
肝炎 | | |
|
