SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow9228
For one brave man, eating one of the hottest peppers in the world came with an unexpected side effect: Days of splitting headaches that prompted a trip to the emergency room.
The unusual case, detailed in The BMJ on Monday, began immediately after the 34-year-old man took part in a chili pepper eating contest. He ate a Carolina Reaper, the pepper christened as the world's hottest by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013 (though there have been several unofficial challengers to the title since).
Immediately after eating the pepper, he started dry heaving. Then he felt excruciating neck pain that soon radiated throughout his entire head. For the next several days, he would experience short but incredibly painful bursts of head pain known as thunderclap headaches. The episodes got so bad that he eventually visited the ER.
Thankfully, a brain scan didn't reveal any major neurological issues, such as a bulged blood vessel (aneurysm) or bleeding. But several of his arteries did appear to narrow significantly, a condition called reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS).
RCVS is known to cause thunderclap headaches, and can be brought on by reactions to drugs, including cocaine and certain antidepressants. No case of RCVS has ever been associated with pepper-eating, but the main ingredient that accounts for a pepper's spiciness—capsaicin—is known to interact with our blood vessels, either by constricting or dilating them, the doctors noted. And cayenne peppers have been rarely linked to heart attacks or suddenly constricted arteries near the heart.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/worlds-hottest-pepper-sends-man-to-the-er-with-thunderc-1825110311
The Carolina Reaper was the world's hottest pepper at the time of the incident, but two varieties have surpassed it unofficially: Dragon's Breath, developed by Neal Price, NPK Technology, and Nottingham Trent University for anesthetic research, and Pepper X, created by the breeder of the Carolina Reaper, Ed Currie.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 10 2018, @10:04PM (5 children)
This hottest pepper eating contest is the Cinnamon Challenge of the adult world.
I can't muster a TON of sympathy. I think these guys breeding the ridiculous peppers are even worse.
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday April 10 2018, @10:09PM (2 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon's_Breath_(chili_pepper) [wikipedia.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 10 2018, @11:11PM (1 child)
Many other record hot peppers were not bred for any medical purpose, but specifically to make "the hottest pepper in the world." It's like any other attempt at winning a title and some fame.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 11 2018, @12:15AM
Probably not, but if a manufacturer of treatments can reduce his requirements from a boxcar full to a suitcase full, his shipping costs will go down for the components of his stuff. [google.com]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday April 11 2018, @08:02AM (1 child)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 11 2018, @04:40PM
You've got to wonder why your own mother would give you such a thing.