October 30th, 2007 | No Comments

From the Garden to the OR

Hot peppers; most people have tried at least one and burned everything in their mouth. I admit I am one of those people and have loved peppers ever since the first one.

According to a report on CNN.com, scientists are now experimenting with an ultra-purified version of Capsaicin ([methyl vanillyl nonenamide], a lipophilic chemical that can produce a strong burning sensation in the mouth) on open wounds during certain types of painful surgery. What they believe is that the numbness you feel after biting into a pepper can be useful for painful surgeries such as knee replacement. The hope is that if they use a large enough dose of Capsaicin on exposed nerves during surgery, then the patient will not have to take some highly addictive narcotics for pain during the healing process.

Tags
chili pepper, capsaicin
Relevant pics from Flickr