Charles Osborne had hiccups for 68 years, hiccuping 20 to 40 times a minute. It is believed he damaged the area of the brainstem responsible for controlling the spasms. His hiccups stopped a year before his death at 97, and doctors couldn’t explain why. Hiccups are an evolutionary mechanism and most remedies disrupt breathing patterns. Men are more likely to suffer from long-term hiccups.
The longest recorded case of hiccups was 68 years. From 1922 to 1990, an American man named Charles Osborne hiccuped 20 to 40 times a minute nonstop. Osborne reportedly first experienced the record case of hiccups in 1922 when he fell while attempting to weigh a 350 lb (158.76 kg) pig before butchering it. It is thought that Osborne may have damaged the area of the brainstem responsible for controlling the spasms of the diaphragm that cause hiccups. A year before his death at the age of 97, Osborne’s hiccups suddenly stopped, but his doctors were unable to provide a conclusive medical explanation.
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Hiccups are thought to be an evolutionary mechanism that stems from early air-breathing amphibians and fish, which evolved the involuntary ability to open and close the entrance to the lungs to prevent water from reaching them.
Most hiccup remedies, like holding your breath or getting scared, can be effective for the same underlying reason: They disrupt your breathing patterns and can prevent your brain from communicating with your diaphragm.
Men are more likely than women to suffer from long-term fits of hiccups, although it is not known why.
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