It’s not just cancer in medicine. An Iranian neurosurgeon stationed at the University of Texas has developed an anti-hiccup device dubbed HiccAway. It is a kind of plastic straw that forces its user (child or adult) to make a big sucking effort, which is enough to overcome the hiccups in most cases. This is the Guardian which echoes it, not without mentioning grandmother’s free alternatives: sucking water while covering your ears or drinking a glass of water upside down. The anti-hiccup straw is sold for almost 19 euros in Europe – but not yet in Switzerland.
Why this is interesting. This device has been tested with some 200 participants around the world thanks to a crowdfunding launched in 2020. This work was published on June 18 in a letter to Lancet, which is without context a guarantee of quality. Volunteers report a 92% effectiveness rate against transient hiccups, and 9 out of 10 believe that this new remedy works better than traditional remedies. The principle: by inhaling a liquid vigorously, the diaphragm is forced to contract and the epiglottis to close, which simultaneously stimulates the two nerves (phrenic and vagus) responsible for the hiccups.
