I want to research the medicinal benefits of them too! I know capcacin - that gives peppers their heat - is also used in a lot of muscle rubs supposedly to relax muscles?
And I've had jalapenos produce well after our first snowstorm! Bell peppers are tricky for me tho...most of the time they end up really small before falling off - I'm probably not fertilizing them enough.
I know a woman who makes a hot pepper extract and uses it in a salve to apply to her joints for R.A. pain relief.
My bells get decent sized, but they're often thin walled. I guess we'll just have to keep working on it.