When rubbed onto the skin during treatment for a heart attack, capsaicin cream could help prevent or reduce heart damage, suggests a new animal-based study. Capsaicin is the chemical that gives chili peppers their spicy kick.
Researchers examined the effects of capsaicin on mice that were experiencing a heart attack. When applied to certain areas of the mice's skin, capsaicin caused sensory nerves to send out signals throughout the nervous system. In turn, those signals activated "pro-survival" pathways known to help protect heart muscles. As a result, the mice had an 85 percent reduction in cardiac cell death when treated with capsaicin.
If found effective in humans, topical treatment with capsaicin could lower the odds of injury or even death in the event of a coronary blockage, according to the study's authors.
Commonly used to relieve pain and itching, capsaicin has been shown to be helpful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, back pain, and psoriasis in previous studies.
