Red snot chilli pepper: Woman in Brazil fell into coma after SNIFFING super-hot chilli caused deadly allergic reaction

A woman inside Brazil fell into a coma for several days after smelling a hot chili pepper.

Thai Medeiros, 25, was cooking with her friend and family when she rubbed the pepper on her nose and smelled it.

Suddenly her throat started to itch. At the hospital, doctors discovered she had cerebral edema, also known as brain swelling.

They think she’s probably allergic to the pepper.

Thai Medeiros, 25, from Brazil, was cooking with her family when she held a hot pepper to her nose. It caused her brain to swell, probably due to an allergic reaction

It’s not clear what kind of pepper she smelled.

Cerebral edema is swelling caused by fluid buildup in the brain.

When the fluid builds up, it exerts pressure on the skull, known as intracranial pressure (ICP). This reduces blood flow and oxygen to the brain, meaning it cannot function properly.

Symptoms typically include headache, nausea, vomiting, vision problems, seizures, changes in behavior, memory loss, weakness or numbness, and loss of consciousness.

Ms. Medeiros’ doctors believe an allergy caused her edema, but it could also stem from traumatic brain injury, stroke, aneurysms, tumors, infections or seizures.

She was in a coma for several days after smelling the pepper, although it is unclear what treatment she received.

Typical treatments to reduce the pressure include brain surgery, medications, elevating the head, and ventilating the patient to give them more oxygen.

Ms. Medeiros is slowly recovering, but it is not clear whether she will have permanent neurological problems as a result of the edema.

Brain swelling can cause a variety of long-term effects, including vision loss, headaches, altered mental status, depression, trouble sleeping, epilepsy, and brain damage.

There are no official data on the number of cerebral edema cases per year. About 2.5 million Americans suffer from traumatic brain injury, a common cause of the condition, according to the Brain Trauma Foundation.