Monday Health Roundup

■ What do chicken wings, red beans and rice, and gall bladder surgery have in common? Well, they all go better with capsaicin.

So what's capsaicin?

It's only the hot new wonder drug [ed: "hot?" Ugh!]

The product that actually makes hot wing sauce hot may have other uses, as well:

"Doctors are dripping the chemical that gives chili peppers their fire directly into open wounds during knee replacement and a few other highly painful operations."

Ouch!

Well, not really. The thinking is that it actually acts to numb the nerve endings, and thus reduce (or even eliminate) the pain. And it's not just for knee surgery, either:

"Harvard University researchers are mixing capsaicin with another anesthetic in hopes of developing epidurals that wouldn't confine women to bed during childbirth, or dental injections that don't numb the whole mouth."

I'm sure there are a lot of great lines there, but we'll take a pass.

■ We shift our attention now from chili peppers to Tar Heels, as we learn that North Carolina has taken the lead in successfully, and quickly, treating heart attack victims:

"The reason is the nation's most ambitious statewide project to redo how serious heart attacks are handled. Paramedics, doctors and 65 hospitals put aside powerful individual interests like money and control, and focused on giving faster care."

Turns out, it's speed, not drugs, that can often make the difference between survival and death. Angioplasty is the procedure of choice, but is often unavailable in rural areas, or at least in a timely fashion. So almost 5 dozen smaller hospitals agreed to forward their heart attack patients to larger ones, which could more easily and quickly perform the life-saving procedure.

Wonder if they used chili peppers to ease the pain?

■ Thinking about a move? Well, if you like your maple syrup real, and your health terrific, then The Green Mountain State is the place to be:

"After four consecutive years of being crowned the healthiest state, Minnesota dropped to No. 2 behind Vermont for the title this year, according to a report released Monday by the United Health Foundation, a non-profit health advocacy group."

The ranking's based on a number of criteria, including obesity rates, infant mortality and high school graduation rates (although it's unlcear what that last has to do with overall health). Vermont spokescritter Sharon Moffatt credits her state's high score on such things as anti-smoking programs, among others.

Kudos to our 14th state!