BOSTON If you can't cure your hiccups with a glass of water, a sudden scare or by holding your breath, an injection of the drug Nefopam may help, according to a letter published 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 that is available outside the United States.

Hiccups are a common phenomenon caused by a sudden, involuntary spasm of the diaphragm, producing a quick inhalation. The sudden closure of the vocal chords at the same time leads to the characteristic hiccuping sound.

In severe cases, if hiccups do not go away by themselves, doctors can find them difficult to cure.

Drs. Frederico Bilotta and Giovanni Rosa of the University of Rome La Sapienza first treated the patients with chlorpromazine and then lidocaine. But when that treatment did not work, they experimented with Nefopam, which strongly and rapidly eliminates pain.

It worked in all three cases, the researchers said.

Nefopam commonly produces nausea, nervousness and dry mouth as side effects. In each case, the Italian doctors switched the patients to other medication once the hiccups had stopped.

(Reuter)