Comments on: The great cayenne pepper experiment

By: amaltby

amaltby — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:30:33 +0000

@goddess34

you may be quite right, and i didn’t mention my own analysis of what might have happened. (but no, it wasn’t a migraine, it was just a headache.)

the study was done at bastyr university in seattle. the researchers found that capsaicin, a compound found in chilies, cuts off the neurotransmitters in the brain that cause you to feel headache pain. i think it may have something to do with those neurotransmitters being “distracted” by the burning-effects process of the capsaicin, but i’d have to talk to the researchers or get my hands on their study to know for sure.

regardless, you’re absolutely right that the placebo effect can be very strong. at the same time, i applied the solution along with a healthy dose of skepticism, so it might just be the capsaicin/neurotransmitter connection after all.

By: goddess34

goddess34 — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 11:21:09 +0000

it probably worked because you wanted it to. If it was a migraine your headache would not have gone away with that fast otherwise the gp would be prescribing it and the government would be doing research on it.

By: Brad

Brad — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 08:15:42 +0000

SOLD!

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:16:13 +0000

Impressed by the remedy.

More impressed by the photo.

By: ekroh

ekroh — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:41:02 +0000

I think this is what blogs are for