When All Else Fails, Italians Use Injection of Drug to Cure Hiccups

If you can’t cure your hiccups with a glass of water or a sudden scare or by holding your breath, an injection of the drug nefopam may help, according to a letter in today’s New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers in Rome said they were able to relieve incapacitating hiccups in three patients within a minute with a single injection of the drug, a painkiller that prevents shivering and that is available outside the United States. Hiccups are caused by a sudden, involuntary spasm of the diaphragm, producing a quick inhalation. In severe cases, if hiccups do not go away by themselves, doctors can find them difficult to cure.

--Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II