Scientist heralds £12 gadget which 'cures' hiccups as 'Nobel Prize worthy' - would YOU try it?
Dr Kareem Clark took to TikTok to reveal his discovery, after coming across the HiccAway device, which launched in 2020 and later featured on US entrepreneurial pitching show, Shark Tank.
The straw, designed by Dr Ali Seifi, a professor of neurosurgery, works by generating enough pressure while a user sips from the device to lower the diagram and activate the epiglottis—the flap at the back of the throat which stops food from entering the lungs.
This then simulates two nerves responsible for hiccups—the vagus and phrenic nerves—allowing the brain to reset and stop the hiccups.
To stop hiccups instantly, a user should submerge the straw in water and forcefully suck water up through the staw and swallow.
Whilst this may seem too good to be true, scientists from the University of Texas, together with Dr Sefi, found that the rigid drinking straw stopped hiccups in nearly 92 per cent of cases, and was preferable to all home remedies.
The results were published in the journal JAMA Network in 2021, but according to Dr Clark, not enough people know about the £12 cure which could negate the need for drugs which come with a host of side-effects.
In the TikTok video, which has now been viewed over 1.5million times, Dr Clark exclaimed: 'Why is this not bigger news?
'It's not some high tech gadget. It's a straw you suck through and it resets your diaphragm.'
Whilst most people experience hiccups from time to time, and they usually only last for a few minutes, many people find them disconcerting and in rare cases a sufferer may be left hiccuping for years.
Hiccups are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm muscle, which force air to be sucked into the lungs and the epiglottis to close, creating the characteristic 'hic' sound.
According to the NHS there is no obvious reason why a person gets hiccups, but some people find certain activities and emotions that will trigger their hiccups including stress, excitement, eating and drinking.
Given that hiccups is a phenomenon that will affect almost everyone at some point in their lives Dr Clark said he believes the scientists behind the straw should be given a nobel prize.
TikTok users took to the comments to express their surprise and share their experience with the straw, with many saying it cured their violent hiccups instantly.
One user said: 'My son gets hiccups—they wrack his body and hurt and upset him. We've used the straw four times... worked instantly each and every time.'
But other users, who didn't know about the simple hack have had to resort to muscle relaxants to manage their painful symptoms.
Currently, the standard first-line treatment for chronic hiccups is chlorpromazine, a type of antipsychotic drug used to treat mental health conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar.
The treatment works by regulating mood and relaxing the body, meaning it can also be used to treat nausea, vomiting and prolonged hiccups.
If hiccups persist, a patient may be prescribed a muscle relaxant such as baclofen to ease symptoms, especially if a sufferer is having difficulty sleeping, is losing weight or experiencing symptoms of depression as a result of chronic hiccups.
However, all these treatments are prescription-only and can cause a host of unpleasant side-effects including insomnia, muscle weakness, confusion, vision problems and ataxia—a group of disorders that affect co-ordination, balance and speech.
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