Man develops severe ‘thunderclap’ headache after eating world’s hottest chilli pepper – the Carolina Reaper
The man began dry heaving immediately after eating a Carolina Reaper, and was rushed to hospital
IT MIGHT sound like an easy challenge, but chowing down on a super hot chilli should come with a health warning.
One bloke ended up in A&E suffering "thunderclap" headaches after eating the world's hottest chilli pepper.
The unnamed man began dry heaving as soon as he swallowed the Carolina Reaper pepper.
His pain was so severe he rushed to hospital, where concerned doctors tested him for a number of neurological conditions.
But when those tests came back negative, the patient was sent for a CT scan.
It showed several arteries in the man's brain had narrowed, making it harder for blood to flow through.
Doctors diagnosed him with thunderclap headaches, caused by reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) - that's narrowed arteries to you and me.
RCVS is temporary, and causes sudden narrowing of the blood vessels.
As a result, a sufferer is left with a drop in blood flow to the brain, and a surging headache.
The doctors treating the man said: "Given the development of symptoms immediately after exposure to a known vasoactive substance, it is plausible that our patient had RCVS secondary to the Carolina Reaper."
Known as a thunderclap headache, there is often no obvious cause, the medics wrote in the BMJ.
They noted the condition can be caused by a reaction to certain prescription drugs, or after taking illegal drugs.
But, they point out, this is the first case caused by eating chilli peppers.
While it's the first case of thunderclap headaches triggered by the fiery fruit, other peppers have caused similar reactions elsewhere in the body.
Cayenne peppers have been known to narrow the artery supplying blood to the heart.
The result of a sudden constriction of the coronary artery is a heart attack, the doctors said.
The man's symptoms cleared up by themselves.