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Redheads feel more pain than people with dark hair
Redheads have been the butt of jokes for centuries but now it appears they could actually feel more pain.
Red headed people, like Florence Welch, are more likely to need stronger painkillers and anaesthetics
Researchers have begun a trial to see whether pale-skinned and red-haired people react differently to pain.
They believe that redheads may need greater levels of anaesthetic during operations or increased painkillers.
Researchers at Southampton University Hospital have recruited redheaded volunteers aged over 30, anaesthetised them and gave them small electric shocks on the thigh.
They were then tested to see if they felt more pain than a control group who had black or brown hair.
The trial, which is due to end in September.
Researches believe that the same gene which determines whether someone has red hair is also involved in the production of endorphins, the body's natural painkiller.
Red hair is the result of a variant of a gene that plays a key role in human hair and skin colour.
A U.S. study published in 2002 found that women with red hair needed 19 per cent more painkillers.
The same researchers also found in 2009 that redheads were more anxious about dental treatment and more than twice as likely to avoid a visit. A separate Danish study suggests red headed people feel the cold more but could handle eating hot food.
Dr Edwin Liem, who led the studies at Louisville University, said: "Redheads experience more pain from a given stimulus and therefore require more anaesthesia to alleviate that pain.
"The art and science of anaesthesiology is determining just the right amount of anaesthesia to achieve unconsciousness, pain tolerance and suppression of memory without causing adverse consequences, such as cardiac or pulmonary complications.
"Red hair is apparently an important element in this decision."
Article from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...eel-more-pain-than-people-with-dark-hair.html
Redheads have been the butt of jokes for centuries but now it appears they could actually feel more pain.
Red headed people, like Florence Welch, are more likely to need stronger painkillers and anaesthetics
Researchers have begun a trial to see whether pale-skinned and red-haired people react differently to pain.
They believe that redheads may need greater levels of anaesthetic during operations or increased painkillers.
Researchers at Southampton University Hospital have recruited redheaded volunteers aged over 30, anaesthetised them and gave them small electric shocks on the thigh.
They were then tested to see if they felt more pain than a control group who had black or brown hair.
The trial, which is due to end in September.
Researches believe that the same gene which determines whether someone has red hair is also involved in the production of endorphins, the body's natural painkiller.
Red hair is the result of a variant of a gene that plays a key role in human hair and skin colour.
A U.S. study published in 2002 found that women with red hair needed 19 per cent more painkillers.
The same researchers also found in 2009 that redheads were more anxious about dental treatment and more than twice as likely to avoid a visit. A separate Danish study suggests red headed people feel the cold more but could handle eating hot food.
Dr Edwin Liem, who led the studies at Louisville University, said: "Redheads experience more pain from a given stimulus and therefore require more anaesthesia to alleviate that pain.
"The art and science of anaesthesiology is determining just the right amount of anaesthesia to achieve unconsciousness, pain tolerance and suppression of memory without causing adverse consequences, such as cardiac or pulmonary complications.
"Red hair is apparently an important element in this decision."
Article from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...eel-more-pain-than-people-with-dark-hair.html
