Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.
And I’m Ryan Geertsma.
Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.
It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
The year was 1922.
Charles Osborne was a farmer in the United States.
He kept large animals, pigs, for food.
On this day, he was preparing to kill one of the pigs.
As Osborne measured the pig, it fell on top of him.
Osborne was not hurt badly.
But something strange did happen to Osborne - he started hiccupping.
Osborne’s hiccups would not stop.
Every ten seconds, another hiccup.
Ten more seconds, and another hiccup.
For years, doctors tried to help him.
They performed operations.
But the operations did not help.
The hiccups continued for years!
His case was so interesting that even television
programs wanted to talk to him about his experience.
68 years later, Osborne’s hiccups finally stopped.
Osborne died about a year later.
No one knows why Charles Osborne started hiccupping.
And no one knows why he stopped hiccupping either!
Few of us will experience such an extreme case of the hiccups.
But all of us have hiccupped at some point in our lives.
What exactly is a hiccup?
Why do our bodies hiccup?
Is there a purpose?
Today’s Spotlight is on hiccups!
There are many stories and ideas about hiccups.
For example, in India or parts of the Middle East,
people have a particular saying about why people get the hiccups.
They might say that you got the hiccups because someone is thinking about you.
In other places, people may say you got the
hiccups because someone is saying bad things about you.
They say the only way to stop your hiccups is to think of the person who is talking about you!
These theories are not based in science.
They are just fun stories.
But what does cause a hiccup?
Hiccups begin in a muscle called the diaphragm.
The diaphragm is a wide, flat muscle.
It is below your lungs, and above your stomach.
It stretches from one side of your body to the other.
It is a muscle that helps you breathe.
When you breathe in, the diaphragm pulls down.
This pulls air into your lungs.
When you breathe out, the diaphragm pushes up.
This is the normal rhythm or pattern of breathing.
But sometimes something affects the diaphragm in a bad way - it irritates the diaphragm.
This makes the diaphragm move in an unusual way.
Instead of smoothly pulling down in the normal way, it pulls down quickly.
This quick movement pulls air into a person’s throat too quickly.
The vocal cords are near the top of your throat.
They make the sound of a person’s voice.
Normally, they work together with the diaphragm for breathing.
But during a hiccup, the air comes in too quickly.
The vocal cords at the top of the throat close.
This is what makes the sound of the hiccup.
There are many causes of hiccupping.
Many things can irritate the diaphragm muscle.
Some are simple things that are easy to understand.
Have you ever had the hiccups after eating a very big meal?
Or have you started to hiccup after drinking a drink with gas in it - like Coca Cola?
Eating or drinking too much or too quickly can lead to hiccups in some people.
The diaphragm muscle lies on top of the stomach.
When the stomach becomes too full, it can irritate the diaphragm - giving you the hiccups!
Other causes of hiccups can be much more complex.
For example, consider the case of Chris Sands.
The UK Newspaper, The Sun, told his story.
In September 2006 Sands hiccupped for two weeks.
About five months later the hiccups started again!
Then they did not stop.
Sands experienced the hiccups for 24 hours a day.
Sometimes they even came every two seconds!
In 2009, a doctor found a small tumor growing on a part of Sands’ brain.
The tumor was extremely serious.
Sands needed an operation to remove it.
He told the Sun’s reporter, Kate Jackson:
“It would have spread to pushing on the nerves that control movement on the left side of my body.
Then it would have spread to my eyesight and speech.
Then I probably would have died.”
Today, Sands does have some problems related to his operation.
But his hiccups are gone and he is alive!
The hiccups were a warning sign of the tumour.
The good news is that hiccups are very normal for most people.
In fact, they usually only affect someone for a few minutes.
Then they go away.
And hiccup experts say there are things people can do to avoid the hiccups.
One of these things is to slow down while eating and drinking.
Also, do not eat too much.
Doing these things helps to avoid irritating the diaphragm.
People can also avoid spicy food and alcohol.
These things irritate the stomach lining, which can also irritate the diaphragm.
So if you do get the hiccups, do not worry!
There are hundreds of ways to get rid of them!
In fact, it seems as if each person has his or her own favorite method for getting rid of hiccups!
For example, one common method is to hold your breath.
Take in a very deep breath.
Hold it for ten seconds - counting to yourself slowly.
By the time you release your breath, your hiccups should be gone.
When you hold your breath, you do not release carbon dioxide gas.
Some hiccup experts believe this method works to calm the diaphragm.
Here are some other popular methods people use to cure their hiccups:
Drink water. Pull on your tongue.
Try to make yourself sneeze.
Rub softly on the stomach of someone with hiccups.
Eat a small amount of honey or sugar.
Concentrate very hard on when the next hiccup will come.
You may concentrate so hard that the next one just never comes!
These methods do not work for every person.
But people who really want to get rid of their hiccups will often try anything!
What are your favorite methods for getting rid of hiccups?
Do hiccups bother you?
Tell us about your hiccup experiences on the script page of this program.
The writer and producer of this program was Liz Waid.
The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom.
All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight.
You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net.
This program is called, “Why Do I Hiccup?”
You can also email us at radio at radioenglish.net.
And find us on Facebook - just search for Spotlight Radio.
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.