Capsaicin benefits
It puts the hot in hot tamale.
Capsaicin, a chemical found in chili peppers can work for pain relief.
San Francisco company Anesiva has been testing Adlea, a highly purified liquid form of capsaicin, on patients recovering from knee and hip surgery.
Doctors dribble the liquid onto the nerves that transmit pain and patients get pain relief for weeks.
"You don't feel pain because those sensors are degraded and it takes eight to 12 weeks for them to grow back, just like if you eat enough chili peppers your mouth will go numb after a while," says John McLaughlin, Anesiva C.E.O.
Unlike aspirin or morphine, the relief comes without nausea or stomach pains.
But keep in mind, ingesting capsaicin does not have the same pain benefits as injecting it.
Flu update
If you have not already had your flu shot, now is the time to do so.
CDC officials say that as of the beginning of November more than 103 million doses of the flu vaccine have been distributed among healthcare providers.
That is more doses distributed across the country than ever before in a single season.
So far the CDC says no states have reported any widespread cases of the flu, which is typical for this time of the year.
The peak for flu season is usually in January or February.
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