Question: Why do we get hiccups and what causes them?

Camille Parsons answered on 20 Jun 2018:

This is slightly outside of my area of knowledge, however I went and spoke to one of the clinical doctors I work with and he told me that:-

We have a big muscle in our chest called the diaphragm which allows us to breath. Hiccups occur when this muscle contracts involuntarily. Quite why this happens we are unsure but it can be caused by stress, excitement, certain food, drugs and some diseases.