Modern Medicine Turns Spicy

I will admit that I enjoy spicy food. The other day a group of friends from the office and I went to lunch at a Thai place. Most Thai places have sliding scales in terms the level of spicy in the food. When I saw most of them ordering a level 2 out of 4 I decided to try 3 out of 4 because I knew that if they could tolerate that much, I could go with a bit more. I was disappointed that the food wasn't spicy enough but just enough to give a zing. Not that I'm one of those crazy guys who munches on habanero peppers as if they were potato chips. Rather, I enjoy spicy foods when they are flavorful and that hotness adds a bit of a kick. Well, it turns out that my passion is being shared by some doctors as well, though not in the kitchen.

I read the other day that doctors in California are experimenting on volunteers to determine if hot sauces can be used as a pain reliever after major surgeries. The concept being that when we ingest a hot sauce, the area touched by the hot sauce (such as the tongue) go numb and you lose the sensation in that area for a while. The doctors in this hospital are hoping that the Tabasco sauces will have a similar effect on those areas that have recently undergone surgery. So far experiments have been conducted on several volunteer patients though they have been sedated when the surgery is actually underway and the hot sauce is applied. According to the reports, this is to 'prevent them from screaming when the hot sauce makes contact.' That statement itself, issued by an actual doctor, had me on the floor laughing simply because it struck me as being so funny. They know that the hot sauce will burn (in a figurative standpoint) so they are doing what they can to avoid unnecessary screaming in the operating room.

I find it fascinating that someone would think to apply a common food additive, long known in the military to add flavor to otherwise bland field rations, and think of it as a pain reliever. People who have ingested too much of it at one time have different ideas. I'm sure they think of them as pain inducers rather than pain relievers. Still, if it proves to be successful this could mean not only a change in the way pain is managed following surgery but also how the military could handle pain in the field as well. I just hope this doesn't lead to some amateur experimentation on the part of foodies that could yield no useful results but more ridiculous ones.

I mean there are plenty of people out there who would love to be known for a medical breakthrough but while there are a few 'real' experimenters out there, such as the group working with the hot sauces. In this case I'm more worried about the guys out there who think they know everything about everything and want to prove it by showing that they have the wherewithal to come up with 'the next best thing'. These are the guys (and they are most often men) who you will find sitting in hospital emergency rooms because they figured they could do it on their own. In their less than capable hands we're more prone to hear about things like chicken gravy washes as a means of improving the complexion. That's the type of renegade medicine that we don't really need.