Image from Giphy

Hiccups can be quite amusing to look at, much like the troubles of passengers on a plane experiencing turbulence, but to be the victim is quite annoying. Fortunately, for most people, hiccups last only a few minutes or perhaps an hour, so we have a light hearted attitude towards the condition. However, an unlucky minority suffers from intractable hiccups. These can last for days and interfere with eating and sleeping patterns, result in weight loss and generally make life quite unpleasant.

According to web MD, there has been a recorded case of intractable hiccups that has lasted 60 years. According to BBC news, Charles Osborne holds the Guinness record for longest attack of hiccups lasting 68 years from 1922 to 1990.

Intractable hiccups are a very rare condition affecting about one in a hundred thousand people. So conducting clinical trials is quite impractical. They also usually have a serious underlying cause like encephalitis, meningitis, stroke etc.

AIDS is another possible underlying cause of intractable hiccups. But a surprising article in a respected medical journal suggests that cannabis may be a possible cure for intractable hiccups . According to this article, it was repeatedly effective with an AIDS patient, who developed intractable hiccups after a surgery. However, because intractable hiccups are so rare, it is difficult to test this theory extensively.

Cannabis, has been used for medicinal purposes for a long time in some cultures but the medicinal uses of this drug are controversial. You can read more about it here in this Wikipedia article.

You can read Lavanya's take here.