Lollipops To Cure Hiccups Invented By Connecticut Teen

Does the world really need another hiccup cure? Well, maybe it would be helpful if there was one that actually worked. A teen in Connecticut believes that she has solved one of the world’s most pressing problems. Mallory Kievman, 13, invented hiccupops, a lollipop to cure hiccups.

Kievman has been working on her hiccupops for years. (Yes, I know she’s only 13.) Scholastic Magazine reports that Kievman did over two years of research and development to figure out the perfect cure for hiccups. Her hiccupops combine several hiccup remedies, like placing sugar or vinegar on the back of the tongue.

Dr. Robynne Chutkan, a gastroenterologist with Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, told WTOP:

 ”I think she tried over a hundred different remedies and researched this for two years … that is some really terrific research and development. Lots of home remedies use something that is either very sweet or very tart. So she used both. She used the tartness of the apple cider vinegar and the sweetness of sugar. So I think it is a really ingenious concept.”

Kievman said:

“It triggers a set of nerves in your throat and mouth that are responsible for the hiccup reflex arc… It basically overstimulates those nerves and cancels out the message to hiccup.”

Kievman’s hiccupops won the Connecticut Invention Competition last year and now she’s ready to start her own business. As part of her contest prize, a group of lawyers filed patents on her behalf to ensure that no one steals her idea. A team of business school students from the University of Connecticut are also helping her sell her lollipops.

Kievman said that hiccupops could soon be on grocery store shelves and in hospital medicine cabinets soon.

What do you think of Mallory Kievman’s invention?