DOCTORS have issued a warning about eating super spicy food, after a US man ate a so-called 'Carolina Reaper' chilli pepper in a contest and ended up in hospital.
The incident has been reported in BMJ Case Reports as the first case to be associated with eating chilli, with the victim suffering so-called "thunderclap" headaches.
The headaches are caused by the tightening of vessels supplying blood to the brain, with the condition formally known as "reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome".
The headaches only last a few seconds at a time, but were described as "debilitating" and occurred over a number of days.
The doctor who reviewed the case has warned anyone eating hot chilli peppers to urgently seek medical attention if they suddenly experience head pain.
Interestingly, the specially bred Carolina Reaper chillis (pictured above) were created by the very appropriately named Ed Currie from the Pucker Butt Pepper Company in South Carolina, who started growing them after learning that the capsaicin contained in chillis had potential as a cancer-fighting medication.
He donates half of his annual harvest to cancer research.
Carolina Reapers have a Scoville Heat Unit rating of 1,569,300 - compared to about 5,000 for the more prosaic jalapenos.
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