ABOVE: The HiccAway straw
HICCAWAY
A study published June 18 in JAMA Network Open shows 90.8 percent of 249 study participants using a new hiccup intervention called a “forced inspiratory suction and swallow tool (FISST)” say the device was more effective at stopping hiccups than were home remedies such as breathing into a paper bag or being scared by a friend.
“It works instantly and the effect stays for several hours,” study coauthor Ali Seifi of the University of Texas (UT) Health Science Center at San Antonio tells The Guardian.
Hiccups happen when the diaphragm, the large muscle that sits under the lungs, suddenly spasms, causing the larynx to contract and closing the epiglottis—the little flap that covers your windpipe when swallowing to prevent food and liquid from getting into the airways.
For most people, hiccups are annoying at best and embarrassing at worst. “But for others they significantly impact quality ...
