title: Hiccups in Parkinson's disease: an overlooked non-motor symptom?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although hiccups may be a non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), they have attracted little research attention to date.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the frequency of occurrence of hiccups in PD.
  
  
  METHODS
  The presence of hiccups was evaluated using face-to-face interviews in 90 PD patients and 100 age-matched controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighteen (20%) of the PD patients and three (3%) of the control subjects reported frequent hiccups. The reported occurrence of hiccups was significantly higher in PD patients than controls. Nine patients noted that hiccups had appeared in the past, particularly around the onset of PD. One patient was admitted to our hospital because of intractable hiccups before a diagnosis of PD was made. Another eight patients reported the emergence of hiccups following the administration of antiparkinsonian drugs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that hiccups are more frequent in PD patients than healthy controls. Further studies are required to determine whether hiccups are associated with intrinsic pathology, to dopamine replacement therapy, or both.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Wakayama Medical University, 811-1 Kimiidera, Wakayama 641-8510, Japan. hmiwahmiwa@gmail.com
authors.forename: Hideto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miwa
authors.forename: Tomoyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kondo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006606:Hiccup / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents