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.
Here's what studies have revealed about redheads and pain: They need about 20 percent more anesthesia to be sedated.
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.
All these studies arose from an urban legend of sorts that circulated in the anesthesiologist community, claiming that people with red hair were more difficult to fully numb for procedures. Surprisingly enough, scientists found substantial evidence to support the claim.
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.
This was followed by a small study published in the journal Anesthesiology, which found that women with red hair required up to 20% more anesthesia to keep them sedated than did women with dark hair.
People with darker skin and the ability to tan have high eumelanin levels and low pheomelanin levels. Redheads, however, have low levels of eumelanin and high pheomelanin levels. Pheomelanin's pinkish colour also explains the red pigments found in ginger hair, and in most cases, a warm, rosy skin tone, too.
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.
In a 2006 study published in Anesthesiology, women with red hair required much more anesthesia than women with dark hair, linked to a distinct genetic phenotype that redheads have.
Some studies indicate that redheads are more prone to illness because they prefer to keep out of the sun and so lack vitamin D, or because their ability to absorb the vitamin is less efficient.
This is to be expected because red hair is associated with fair skin, which is more vulnerable to UV radiation [1]. Less expectedly, red hair is also associated with pain sensitivity, endometriosis, Parkinson's disease, decreased platelet function and, perhaps, defects in the immune system [2–11].
Redheads might have less damage/signs of aging
This means that there is a reduced risk of sun damage and early signs of aging in the skin of redheads. This means our skin stays youthful for longer, helping us appear younger.
We found that redheads were significantly more sensitive to cold pain perception, cold pain tolerance, and heat pain tolerance.
A gene called MC1R plays a role in whether someone will have red hair. People who have certain variants in this gene are more likely to have red hair because they have higher levels of pheomelanin.
In our study, we investigated the levels of vitamin D precursor 25(OH)D3 (calcidiol) and folic acid in the blood serum of 73 redheaded and 130 non-redheaded individuals. In redheaded individuals, we found higher 25(OH)D3 concentrations and approximately the same folic acid concentrations as in non-redheaded subjects.
Redheads probably won't go grey. That's because the pigment just fades over time. So they will probably go blonde and even white, but not grey. Rumor says Hitler banned marriage between redheads.
Redheads (men and women) differ chemically from the rest of us in that they can't make melanin (the brown pigment in freckles and tans). Instead, they make pheomelanin, which is reddish. Their sweat doesn't differ in composition from anyone else's, so there is no reason for them to smell different.
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.
The gene for red hair is recessive, so a person needs two copies of that gene for it to show up or be expressed. That means even if both parents carry the gene, just one in four of their children are likely to turn out to be a redhead.
Contrary to what many people assume, redheads did not originate in Scandinavia, Scotland or Ireland, but in central Asia. Their coloring is due to a mutation in the MC1R gene that fails to produce sun-protective, skin-darkening eumelanin and instead causes pale skin, freckles and red hair.
In Asia, red hair can be found among some peoples of Afghan, Arab, Iranian, East Indians, Mongolian, Turkic, Miao, and Hmong descent. Several preserved samples of human hair have been obtained from an Iron Age cemetery in Khakassia, South Siberia.
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.
The skin of a redhead is thinner compared to others and is derived from the ectoderm. Teeth enamel is also derived from the ectoderm and thus is thinner than usual. Since the enamel coating is thin, the inner layer of tooth-dentin is more visible and offers a yellowish appearance.
Yes. At Cryos, we accept all types of men that want to become sperm donors, as long as they meet our requirements to become sperm donors. In our Sperm Donor Search, you can see all the different phenotypes available, including donors with red hair.
For starters, redheads typically have fair complexions and are more susceptible to sunburn and skin cancer. Some people with red hair also experience pain differently, or they can look older than they are. At the same time, redheads are better at manufacturing vitamin D and have a lower prostate cancer risk.