Like most risky stunts, this one too is proving dangerous. Doctors are strongly warning against trying the online dare called the “cinnamon challenge”.
The video fad involves trying to swallow a large spoonful of powdered cinnamon in 60 seconds without water. However while attempting to swallow a large amount of any dry powder is in itself dangerous, cinnamon is caustic and trying to gulp it down can lead to choking, throat irritation, breathing trouble and even collapsed lung.
When asked by a reporter why she tried it, one Toronto Ontario student said, “I don’t know, everyone was doing it, and it seemed like a challenge…it was horrible. It feels like the powder was choking you, and it was really hard to breathe”
Because cinnamon is made from ground tree bark, the cellulose fibres do not break down easily and can cause scarring if the powder gets into the lungs, which is easily possible while choking on the dry powder. In fact, almost all who attempt the stunt end up hacking and coughing clouds of the orange-brown powder, and inhaling some.
The dangerous stunt has led to a surge in calls to poison centres in the US and Canada, and several hospitilizations.
A story published this week in the magazine Pediatrics, says at least 30 teens in the US needed medical attention last year after trying the stunt. Most involved adolescents who were suffering from burning in the airways and in some cases nosebleeds, vomiting and difficulty breathing.
There are now about 34-thousand videos on YouTube showing people trying the challenge. In the last 6 weeks the Ontario Poison Centre has had 10 calls about cinnamon ingestion and has said inhaling the spice powder can cause pneumonia
Dejah Reed of Ypsilanti, Michigan took the challenge but laughed at her friend who was also trying the stunt. She coughed and inhaled some of the spice and had to be rushed to the hospital with a collapsed lung. She now has to use an inhaler when she gets short of breath. She now has started a website where she advises other teens to say “no” to the challenge.
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