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 If
you haven’t heard of the cinnamon challenge yet, consider yourself
part of the fortunate minority. It became a viral
Internet challenge?there are more than 40,000 cinnamon challenge
videos on YouTube. Particularly popular amongst teens, participants in this challenge
must swallow a spoonful of cinnamon
without drinking anything for 60 seconds.
The results are filmed and posted online, where it has gained quite
a following due to the humorous nature of the results.
Although the images of people coughing, gagging, choking, and sometimes
vomiting offer a few laughs,
the health effects are no laughing matter.
What people may not know is that breathing in cinnamon can be harmful
for the lungs and several people
have been hospitalized because of this “fun” challenge. According
to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, there were
222 cases of misuse of cinnamon by teens
in the United States last year. Unfortunately, that number has dramatically increased in
recent months.
 Although
doctors have been hesitant to make a strong
statement about documented lung damage from
the game, they strongly warn that there is a high likelihood that
the cinnamon challenge can be damaging to the lungs. In fact, in
one extreme case, one young student in Ann Arbor, Michigan was hospitalized
with a collapsed lung after inhaling
cinnamon. According to her father, she could not breathe and was
going in and out of consciousness.
So spread the word and put an
end to the cinnamon challenge. |
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