Inpharma 1668 - 13 Dec 2008

I scream, you scream, we allscream for ice cream

"Cold simulation of the palate induced by gobbling upice cream more than doubles the likelihood ofdeveloping ice cream headache among middle schoolstudents", report Maya and Janusz Kaczorowski in theBMJ.

In this 2002 study, the researchers randomised145 US middle school students to eat 100ml of icecream in > 30 seconds or in < 5 seconds, with aprimary outcome measure of self-reported incidenceand duration of ice cream headache; this study wasconducted in winter.

Overall, 27% of students who consumed their icecream in an accelerated manner reported ice creamheadache, compared with 13% of those who ate at amore sedate pace, giving a relative risk of 2.2 (95% CI1.03, 4.94). This study allowed for determination of thenumber needed to harm with such an intervention,calculated to be 6.71 students.

The researchers noted that "in contrast to previousstudies, our results suggest that ice cream headache canbe induced in cold weather even in subjects who eattheir ice cream at a slow pace".Kaczorowski M, et al. Ice cream evoked headaches (ICE-H) study: randomisedtrial of accelerated versus cautious ice cream eating regimen. BMJ 325:1445-1446, No. 7378, 21 Dec 2002 801108254

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Inpharma 13 Dec 2008 No. 16681173-8324/10/1668-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved