Sales of alternative medicines are booming despite the long and crippling recession. In just two years, the market has grown by 18 per cent to £213million a year.

Analysts predict sales will increase by 33 per cent to £282million over the next four years. More and more people are rejecting prescription drugs, preferring milder natural remedies. Mintel says the rise is partly explained by official acceptance of many treatments such as acupuncture, which is now available on the NHS.

Other holistic treatments such as the Indian ayurveda, which concentrates on diet, yoga, massage and herbs are making ground against standard invasive therapies.

In these times of recessionary stress, depression has led to a surge of sufferers exploring holistic approaches rather than addictive prescription drugs.

Around 1.5million Britons bought St John’s Wort last year, mainly for depression.

Hiccups, or hiccoughs as it was once spelt, is an annoying condition, especially if you are at a social occasion or in a business meeting.

It is caused when the band of muscle below the ribs, the diaphragm, contracts suddenly in a spasm.

Here’s a sideways cure that requires nothing but a glass of water and a drinking straw.

1. Put one-third of a pint of water in a glass, together with the straw.
2. Press the tips of your index fingers into the hollows behind the earlobes where the neck meets the jawbone.
3. Keep the pressure on while drinking as much of the water as you can through the straw.
4. It is claimed that when the glass is empty the hiccups will be gone.