Sniffing this pepper landed woman in hospital for 6 months

Who would have guessed that sniffing a pepper might land someone in the hospital for months? This is exactly what happened to a woman from Brazil who sniffed an extremely spicy variety of pickled goat pepper while preparing dinner with her boyfriend.

25-year-old Thais Medeiros de Olivera’s life changed one February evening when she smelled and unknowingly rubbed off a spicy goat pepper on her nose. This fiery pepper that had a Scoville rate ranging from 15,000 to 30,000 caused her brain to swell up, making it a 6-month stay for her at the hospital.

The incident took place in the centrally located Brazilian town of Anapolis where Thais and her boyfriend were preparing a dinner for his parents. It was found that what Thais sniffed also caused her to lose the ability to speak or walk.

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Sniffing a goat pepper gave a 25-year-old cerebral edema

Smelling a goat pepper gave this woman cerebral edema. (Image by Jessica Lewis via Pexels)

Thais Medeiros de Olivera began to experience an itchy, irritated throat after smelling the pepper, which escalated quickly to more severe symptoms. She was then rushed to the Anapolis local hospital, where she was later transferred to a healthcare facility in Goiania, her hometown.

The super spicy goat pepper that Thais sniffed ranged between 15000 and 30000 on the Scoville scale. The Scoville scale is used to measure the spiciness, pungency, or simply the heat of the chili peppers. The range of such hot foods is then recorded in Scoville Heat Units (SHU).

After Thais was admitted, medical tests showed that she had suffered from cerebral edema or severe swelling of the brain. This is believed to have been the outcome of an allergic reaction caused by the pepper. The condition in which she was brought in gradually deteriorated to the degree that she remained in a coma for many days.

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What is Cerebral Edema?

Cerebral edema can be fatal. (Image by iStockphoto via Pexels)

Edema is the swelling in bodily tissues due to a buildup of fluid. Cerebral edema refers to the swelling up of the brain and can be life-threatening. The buildup of fluid inside the brain increases what is known as intracranial pressure (ICP), or the pressure created inside the human skull.

Increased ICP can restrict the blood flow in the brain, limiting the amount of oxygen that it receives. Since the brain requires an uninterrupted flow of oxygen, cerebral edema can lead to irreversible damage. It can be tough to treat and it might occur throughout the brain or in particular areas. If left untreated, swelling in the brain can be fatal.

The symptoms of swelling of the brain include:

• Headache
• Stiffness or pain in the neck
• Altered state of consciousness or mental conditions
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Partial or total vision loss

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What are the causes of brain swelling?

There can be several reasons for cerebral edema or brain swelling. However, the major causes could include the following:

• An ischemic stroke can occur if there is a blood clot near the brain, cutting off the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain. This can lead to the death of brain cells and edema as a response to injury.
• A Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can cause huge damage to the brain. Physical impacts and falls can lead to swelling in the brain.
• Brain tumors can put pressure on specific spots in the brain, which can cause the surrounding areas to swell.
• Certain bacterial infections can also cause inflammation in the brain and edema.

Other causes of brain edema could be:

• Drug or substance abuse
• High altitude
• Viral infections
• Bites from poisonous animals
• Carbon monoxide poisoning

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Although Thais was initially discharged from the hospital on July 31, she was readmitted after 4 days following a high fever and passing reddish urine. She was then supposed to return home on August 10, but a condition called bronchospasm took a toll on her health again. Bronchospasm is when the airways in the lungs tighten up.

Thais remains in the hospital as of yet, in a delicate state, with no decided date of release provided by the authorities.