Why do we hiccup? - John Cameron

翻译人员: wangjingyi liao 校对人员: fuyu you

1922年，查尔斯·奥斯本 被一只猪压倒后开始了打嗝

Charles Osborne began to hiccup in 1922 after a hog fell on top of him.

He wasn't cured until 68 years later

直到68年后才痊愈

and is now listed by Guinness as the world record holder

他现在被吉尼斯记为

世界上打嗝时间最长的保持者。

for hiccup longevity.

Meanwhile, Florida teen Jennifer Mee

同时，弗洛里达的小女孩 詹妮·弗眉

may hold the record for the most frequent hiccups,

可能是世界上打嗝频率最高的人

50 times per minute for more than four weeks in 2007.

在2007年，她连续四周以上 每分钟打嗝50次

So what causes hiccups?

那么，是什么导致了打嗝？

Doctors point out that a round of hiccups often follows from stimuli

医生指出 打嗝常常出现在

胃壁受到牵拉刺激之后

that stretch the stomach,

like swallowing air

例如 吸入大量空气

or too rapid eating or drinking.

或者吃喝频率太快

Others associate hiccups with intense emotions

打嗝也可能与剧烈的情绪变化

or a response to them:

或与对情绪的反应相关 例如：

laughing,

大笑

sobbing,

anxiety,

哭泣

焦虑

and excitement.

和兴奋

Let's look at what happens when we hiccup.

让我们看看打嗝的时候都发生了什么。

It begins with an involuntary spasm or sudden contraction of the diaphragm,

它开始于一种无意识的痉挛 或膈肌的收缩

the large dome-shaped muscle below our lungs

膈肌是个大的，圆顶形的肌肉 位于胃的下方

that we use to inhale air.

用于吸入空气

This is followed almost immediately by the sudden closure of the vocal chords

几乎在膈肌收缩的同时

两片声带就开始合拢 关闭它们之间的缝隙

and the opening between them,

也就是所谓的声门

which is called the glottis.

The movement of the diaphragm initiates a sudden intake of air,

膈肌的收缩将导致 空气被突然吸入肺部。

but the closure of the vocal chords stops it from entering the wind pipe

而声带的闭合则阻止空气的进入

and reaching the lungs.

It also creates the characteristic sound: "hic."

这也造成了一种特别的声音： “嗝”。

To date, there is no known function for hiccups.

直至今天，我们也不知道打嗝的作用

They don't seem to provide any medical or physiological advantage.

它看起来并没有任何医学上 或物理上的功能

Why begin to inhale air only to suddenly stop it from actually entering the lungs?

为何刚开始吸入空气就突然阻止 它真正进入肺部呢？

Anatomical structures,

打嗝在解剖结构或者生理机制上 并没有显而易见的用途

or physiological mechanisms, with no apparent purpose

present challenges to evolutionary biologists.

这使解释它变成了一个对于进化生物学家的挑战

Do such structures serve some hidden function that hasn't yet been discovered?

难道这种结构服务于 什么未知的隐藏机能吗？

Or are they relics of our evolutionary past,

或者它是我们进化过程中的遗留物

having once served some important purpose

曾经服务于一些重要的目的

only to persist into the present as vestigial remnants?

但现在只是因为存在而存在， 就像残留的遗迹一样？

One idea is that hiccups began

有一个理论是说打嗝开始于 几百万年以前人类还没有出现的时候

many millions of years before the appearance of humans.

The lung is thought to have evolved as a structure to allow early fish,

肺被视为一种允许早期鱼类存活于温暖， 污浊，空气稀缺的水中的一种结构

many of which lived in warm, stagnant water with little oxygen,

to take advantage of the abundant oxygen in the air overhead.

使它们可以利用水面上的大量空气

When descendants of these animals later moved onto land,

当这些生物的后代移居到陆地上

they moved from gill-based ventilation to air-breathing with lungs.

它们从用腮呼吸变成了用肺呼吸

That's similar to the much more rapid changes faced by frogs today

这个变化与如今从蝌蚪到青蛙之间的 快速改变相似

as they transition from tadpoles with gills

就像从用腮呼吸的蝌蚪

to adults with lungs.

变成用肺呼吸的成熟青蛙

This hypothesis suggests that the hiccup is a relic of the ancient transition

这个假设提出打嗝是我们祖先 从水生变成陆生的遗留产品

from water to land.

An inhalation that could move water over gills

一次把水过腮的吸气之后

followed by a rapid closure of the glottis preventing water from entering the lungs.

声门的快速闭合阻止了水进入肺部

That's supported by evidence

有证据表明

which suggests that the neural patterning involved in generating a hiccup

产生打嗝的神经模式和 两栖动物的呼吸模式几乎一致

is almost identical to that responsible for respiration in amphibians.

Another group of scientists believe that the reflex is retained in us today

另一个科学家小组认为这种反射 如今依然存在于我们身体

because it actually provides an important advantage.

因为它实际上提供了一种重要的优势

They point out that true hiccups are found only in mammals

他们指出真正的打嗝只在哺乳动物上发生

and that they're not retained in birds, lizards, turtles,

而并没有保留在鸟类，蜥蜴，龟类

or any other exclusively air-breathing animals.

或者其他只呼吸空气的动物上

Further, hiccups appear in human babies long before birth

而且，打嗝在婴儿出生之前就出现了

and are far more common in infants that adults.

甚至在婴儿身上比成人更加常见

Their explanation for this

他们解释说这个是因为 哺乳动物独有的哺乳活动

involves the uniquely mammalian activity of nursing.

The ancient hiccup reflex may have been adapted by mammals

哺乳动物可能将原始的打嗝反射

to help remove air from the stomach as a sort of glorified burp.

演化为排除胃内空气的一系列饱嗝

The sudden expansion of the diaphragm would raise air from the stomach,

这种横膈膜的突然膨胀可能 引起胃部空气的上升

while a closure of the glottis would prevent milk from entering the lungs.

同时声门的闭合可以 避免乳液进入肺部

Sometimes, a bout of hiccups will go on and on,

有些时候，打嗝会连续不断的发生

and we try home remedies:

然后我们尝试使用一些偏方：

sipping continuously from a glass of cold water,

比如一口气喝完一瓶冷水

holding one's breath,

屏住呼吸

a mouthful of honey or peanut butter,

吃一嗓子蜂蜜或者花生酱

breathing into a paper bag,

向一个纸袋呼吸

or being suddenly frightened.

或者一个突然的惊吓

Unfortunately, scientists have yet to verify that any one cure

不幸的是，科学家还没有证实任何一种方法

works better or more consistently than others.

可以比其他的方式更有效持久

However, we do know one thing that definitely doesn't work.

但是，我们知道有些一定不管用。