The popular and long-lived stunt among teens, the "cinnamon challenge," dares an individual to swallow a tablespoon of the spice without drinking water. But the seemingly innocent stunt can actually cause some serious adverse health effects, doctors say.
And a new research paper reveals that aside from the immediate effects resulting from the cinnamon challenge, including choking, coughing and burning of the throat, nose and mouth, the popular dare can also cause "long-lasting lesions, scarring and inflammation of the airway."
In 2012, at least 30 cinnamon challenge cases that required medical attention were reported in the United States.
And the study, published in the journal Pediatrics, even outlined cases where ventilator support was necessary for treating some teens whose lungs collapsed after participating in the cinnamon challenge.
This year alone, the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported 20 cinnamon-related exposures between Jan. 1 and Mar. 31, while 222 cases in total were reported in 2012---an increase of 171 exposures that were recorded by the agency in 2011.
But teens with preexisting medical conditions such as asthma, have an even higher risk of developing serious health effects that may result from ingesting large amounts of dry cinnamon--according to the study's author, Steven Lipshultz, professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
"It could really put them in a bad way,"
Lipshultz added that in animal studies, the lungs became inflamed almost instantaneously following just a single exposure and the effects can even be visible weeks and even months after the incident.
"In humans, that would be the equivalent of an elderly person developing emphysema and needing oxygen," he said.