It might sound like a terrible thing to do, but scientists both in Europe and the United States have begun dripping hot sauce on open wounds. They say that chili peppers may hold the key to after-surgery pain relief. A pain specialist from Denmark named Dr. Eske Aasvang and a California-based company Anesiva, Inc. are using a purified phytochemical chemical called capsaicin to help patients get over the pain of surgery.

Chili peppers have traditionally been used as a topical painkiller, with capsaicin creams available in tubes or jars or as the active ingredient in heating pads for sale at most drugstores. It can also relieve itching (pruritis). Among the conditions it is used for are back pain, bursitis, fibromyalgia, joint pain, muscle pain, nerve pain, osteoarthritis, pain due to diabetic, neuropathy, phantom pain after amputation, post-herpetic neuralgia, post-surgical neuropathic pain, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Capsaicin or 8-methyl N-vanillyl 6nonamide is one of the six capsaicinoid compounds in chili peppers, and is what gives them their distinctive mouth-burning, eye-watering, and sweat-breaking spiciness. It

works by activating the chemical terminals of sensory neurons which increases membrane permeability to elements like calcium and sodium, thereby triggering the release of substance P, the substance responsible for the sensations of pain we experience inside our mouths when eating a habanero chili pepper. The chemical terminals are receptors called transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1). When they bind with capsaicin, they open and allow the latter to enter specific pain fibers, letting extra calcium inside the cells until the nerves become overloaded and shut down. When these cells shut down, it temporarily numbs the feeling in that specific area where it was applied.

The brain responds to the burning sensation by releasing endorphins, the body’s natural painkiller.

Endorphins are a class of neurotransmitters produced by the body to respond to any kind of pain, and bonds to some of the same receptors in the brain as the opioid morphine. The term itself is a blend of two words coined by American scientists Rabi Simantov and Solomon H. Snyder, “endogenous” and “morphine” and literally means “morphine produced naturally in the body.” Endorphins are also known to cause a sense of well-being, and is the attributed cause of a phenomenon called “runner’s high.” This is largely because its release is triggered by exercise, which puts a great deal of wear and tear on the body and causing muscle pain. The muscle pain in turn becomes the signal for the body to release endorphins. Similarly, capsaicin has also been known to trigger the release of endorphins.

But it is the feeling of numbness that scientists would like to explore further. By bathing surgically exposed nerves in a high enough dose of capsaicin, the area should be numbed for weeks, translating to less pain and suffering for those who have just undergone surgery. It means that patients will require fewer opioid painkillers as they heal. Opioid painkillers are also fraught with serious side effects that limit their use, and are potentially addictive. The most common side effects of opioids (morphine) include euphoria, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, constipation, dilated pupils and respiratory depression. Some side effects may be harmful or even lethal. But with capsaicin, research suggests that a one-time dose applied to the wound that works inside the wound, allowing patients to start physical therapy after surgery without needing to be incapacitated by the side effects of opiate-based painkillers.

Although the application for chili peppers for pain relief after surgery is yet to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, many scientists are optimistic that capsaicin is the future of pain relief.

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The anticipated pain of surgery, and even post-operative pain, is keeping a lot of patients from going for that much needed treatment. Although anesthesia has been effective for keeping a patient asleep, immobile, and out of pain during complicated surgeries — it can hardly prevent pain from recurring once the patient wakes up.

Due to the limitations of anesthesia, the medical and research community has been looking for a suitable substitute or alternative. Recently, scientists have made experiments on substances that are used to make hot sauce. Surgeons have tried to use the chemical that gives chili peppers their “fire” as an experimental anesthetic by directly pouring the said substance into open wounds during knee replacement and a few other highly painful operations. The experiments made use of an ultra-purified version of capsaicin to avoid infection. Volunteers were under placed under anesthesia so that they don’t feel the initial burn.

Treating surgically exposed nerves with a high dose of capsaicin will numb them for weeks, so that patients suffer less pain and require fewer narcotic painkillers as they heal. According to Dr. Eske Aasvang, a pain specialist in Denmark who is testing the substance, “We wanted to exploit this numbness.”

For centuries, chili peppers have been part of folk remedy and heat-inducing capsaicin creams are a familiar drugstore cure for muscle spasms. Today, however, the spice is also commercially “hot” due to research showing how capsaicin targets key pain-sensing cells in a unique way. Aside from California-based Anesiva Inc.’s attempt to harness that burn for more focused pain relief, Harvard University researchers are also mixing capsaicin with another anesthetic drug in hopes of developing epidurals that would not confine women to bed during childbirth, or dental injections that don’t numb the whole mouth. At the National Institutes of Health, scientists hope that by early next year, they can begin testing in advanced cancer patients a capsaicin variant that is 1,000 times more potent, to see if it can zap their intractable pain.

Nerve cells that sense a type of long-term throbbing pain contain a receptor, called TRPV1. Capsaicin binds to this receptor and works to produce a painkilling action on specific pain-receiving fibers.

These so-called C neurons also sense heat; thus capsaicin’s burn. But when TRPV1 opens, it lets extra calcium inside the cells until the nerves become overloaded and shut down. That’s the numbness. “It just required a new outlook about … stimulation of this receptor to turn those cellular discoveries into a therapy hunt,” says NIH’s Dr. Michael Iadarola.

In a meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Aasvang reported that forty one men were tested and underwent open hernia repair. Capsaicin recipients experienced significantly less pain in the first three days after surgery. Another U.S. study of 50 knee replacements, half were treated with capsaicin who used less morphine in the 48 hours after surgery and experienced less pain for two weeks. Several on-going studies are experimenting with larger doses in more patients to find out whether the effect is real.

“There’s a huge need for better surgical pain relief,” said Dr. Eugene Viscusi, Director of Acute Pain Management at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of the test sites. “Morphine and its relatives, so-called opioid painkillers, are surgery’s standby. While they’re crucial drugs, they have serious side effects that limit their use.”

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Chinese cooking night is a wonderful tradition that my family has created over the years and one that we have all come to love! On this special night once a month, my aunts, grandmas, parents and even my two brothers and their families clear their hectic schedules and gather around the family kitchen to whip up a savory and delicious meal straight from the Orient. Why Chinese food, you ask? Of all the different cuisines we have tried throughout the years, Chinese recipes are easy to follow, the food is delicious and Chinese cooking sauces have become our favorite. Their adaptability and variety of flavorful spices is loved by the whole family.

One thing we learned very early on is that Chinese food and Chinese cooking are greatly complimented by the key ingredients of the sauces. You can see this very easily in the American Chinese food cooking trends. It is mainly a mixture of vegetables enhanced with Chinese sauces. These cooking sauces are used as garnishes and in preparing many types of delicious authentic recipes. Most of our favorite Chinese dishes, like noodles and fried rice are made with a variety of spices and sauces making them very popular and savory meals.

In America, Chinese food has been used in ways that are non traditional and has taken on some of its own new traditions. Their sauces have become famous as dipping sauces and cooking sauces that are mainly used for different types of meat dishes like pork or chicken. Sweet and sour sauce was originally used as a simple sauce for fish dishes in different parts of the world but was used to create American-Chinese dishes such as sweet and sour chicken when it was introduced in America. Along with sweet and sour sauce, some other types of sauces used in America to enhance flavor in popular Chinese foods such as noodles, fried rice and other Chinese dishes are chili oil, oyster sauce and garlic sauce.

Chinese cooking with its tasty dipping sauces is also a fun way to liven up a meal and something that my children love! Try serving the dipping sauces in a small bowl along with the meal to accompany Chinese appetizers like pot stickers, spring rolls and egg rolls. Let the kids have their own bowl to dip and watch their faces light up. One of the main reasons my family loves Chinese cuisine is that there are so many different types of flavors that can be easily incorporated into everyday meals. Some of the most famous are chili oil, sweet and sour sauce, hot mustard and garlic sauce. Chili oil is made from chili peppers and is normally used in stir-fry and to enhance the flavor of other dishes such as noodles. Another favorite and one that has been used for many centuries in China is sweet and sour sauce. Its main ingredients of sugar and wedding vinegar make it a very popular choice and one that adds savory flavor to Chinese dishes when combined with tomato sauce. Garlic sauce and hot mustard sauce are great sauces that work well with a variety of Chinese appetizers. Any of these sauces are easy to make and will give your meal that special oriental flavor your family will love!

Because Chinese cooking sauces are an easy way add great flavor to Chinese meals and are so adaptable, they have become very popular in China and around the world…making Chinese food a truly international cuisine. It is easy to experiment with all the many sauces and spices Chinese food has to offer and even come up with your own favorite combinations! From sweet and sour sauce to garlic and hot mustard, Chinese cuisine and its many sauces have proven to be an all time favorite that my family loves. Try it out on your family and I’m sure that they too will look forward to your special night of Chinese cooking.

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