The common hiccup is a ubiquitousre?ex; everyone experiences hiccupsinnumerable times through life, butunlike the other common re?exes likesneezing (clearing material from thenasal passages) and coughing (clearingmaterial from the airways) there is noknown physiologic advantage for thecommon hiccup 1–4.Rather than continuing as a vestigialre?ex whose purpose has evolved away,I propose that the hiccup may be a surprisingly complex re?ex to remove airfrom the stomachs of young sucklingmammals.
展开▼
