Researchers think that the ginger gene, known as MC1R, may cause the temperature-detecting gene to become over-activated, making redheads more sensitive to the cold.
Redheads feel hot and cold temperatures more severely than anyone else. In 2005, the University of Louisville discovered this hidden gift and hypothesised that the redhead gene, MC1R may cause the human temperature-detecting gene to become over-activated, making redheads more sensitive to thermal extremes.
Conclusion: Red hair is the phenotype for mutations of the melanocortin 1 receptor. Our results indicate that redheads are more sensitive to thermal pain and are resistant to the analgesic effects of subcutaneous lidocaine.
The summer heat can be red hot, particularly for gingers, who are much more sensitive to heat and at higher risk of skin cancer.
As a group, redheads seem to be more likely to develop certain health conditions and have certain health risks. These include: Increased skin cancer risk. Altered sensitivity to pain.
Lifespan: up to 20 years in captivity, 5-10 years in the wild. Special Adaptations: Males have an elaborate courtship dance where they throw back their heads, almost touching their tail!
It's no secret that their pale skin makes redheads more susceptible to sunburns and skin cancers. However, some research has found a link between redhead DNA and an increased risk of melanoma. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that begins in melanocytes, cells that produce melanin.
Having red hair isn't the only thing that makes some redheads unique. They are also more likely to be left handed. Both characteristics come from recessive genes, which like to come in pairs. Redheads probably won't go grey.
Susceptible to sunburn — and melanoma
While it makes redheads more susceptible to sunburn, that very sensitivity to ultraviolet rays also allows their bodies to produce more vitamin D, which is essential to bone development and good health.
Myth: Redheads' skin ages faster because it's so dry.
A dry, leather-like appearance and increased wrinkles are not due to hair color. Those with dry skin have a multitude of options available to them using today's dermatology.
In the past five years, researchers have found that the genetic mutation responsible for redhead's ruby tresses and snow-white skin also makes them more sensitive to hot and cold -- and it could also make them a whole lot harder to numb up.
However, people with red hair produce little of the melanin that is good at blocking the sun's harmful light, and produce more of the melanin that doesn't do as good of a job in blocking sunlight, making them more likely to get sunburned.
Research has shown that people with red hair perceive pain differently than others. They may be more sensitive to certain types of pain and can require higher doses of some pain-killing medications. However, studies suggest that their general pain tolerance may be higher.
Someone with red hair has two copies of the MC1R gene, receiving one from each parent. The gene also carries a certain mutation in most people who have red hair. It's this variant that has been identified as playing a role in why redheads may respond to pain drugs differently than others.
Having red hair and blue eyes is the rarest hair/eye color combination possible. The odds of a person having both of those recessive traits is around 0.17%. Instead, most redheads have brown, hazel or green eyes, according to Medical Daily.
The MC1R variant gene that gives people red hair generally results in skin that is difficult or impossible to tan. Because of the natural tanning reaction to the sun's ultraviolet light and high amounts of pheomelanin in the skin, freckles are a common, but not universal, feature of red-haired people.
First up, studies have found that people with ginger hair are better in bed. This is because of a specific gene connected to redheads – the MC1R gene. This gene makes the individual more sensitive to touch than people with other hair colours.
Previous studies had shown that redheads inherit two versions of the MC1R gene that leads to red hair – one from their mum and one from their dad. Although almost everyone with red hair has two copies of the red-haired version of MC1R, not everyone carrying two red-haired versions is a redhead.
Key Takeaways. Humans and mice with red hair have a different tolerance for pain because their skin's pigment-producing cells lack the function of a certain receptor. Lack of this receptor function causes changes that tip the balance between pain sensitivity and pain tolerance.
One of the many facts about redheads is that their hair will never turn grey. The pigment in their hair that causes it to be red will just fade over time, causing their hair to turn blonde or white, but never grey.
Put simply, 'achromotrichia' is defined as the absence or loss of pigmentation in the hair. Thanks to genetics, gingers tend to retain their red hair colour for a lot longer, skipping out the greying stage that most other people experience.
According to a twin study, women are more likely than men to have red hair even when the genotype is the same [12]. Prenatal estrogen may also affect eye color, since face shape is more feminized in blue-eyed men than in brown-eyed men of the same ethnic background [13,14].
That is, in part, because red hair is an exotic trait, occurring in just one or two out of every 100 people. While the gene variants that endow flaming locks are rare, redheads are not destined to vanish from the population, despite recurring claims to that effect.
According to a new study carried out by the University of Tennessee and Dalton State, redheads are more likely to be exceptional than become extinct. When looking at redheads and the trends in business management, researchers found redheads are four times more likely to become the CEO of their workplace.