Posted on 03/25/2003 5:57:32 AM PST by Pharmboy
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A gene found in redheads and fair-skinned people may also play a role in the body's natural pain suppression system.
But the gene, Mc1r, appears to impact pain suppression only in women, according to the study, published Monday in the advance online publication of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites).
The researchers found that redheaded women were able to tolerate more pain than other people when given an analgesic drug called pentazocine. All redheaded men, as well as men and women who did not have red hair, had similar-and lower-tolerance to pain with the drug compared with redheaded women.
This shows that the men and women are using different pain pathways, said Jeffrey S. Mogil, a professor of pain studies at McGill University in Montreal.
"If they were using the same pathways, then the redhead gene would have the same impact for both sexes," he added.
Ultimately the research may help doctors make better choices when it comes to prescribing pain medication, Mogil said. Beyond the sex differences, it's clear that there are genetic differences that impact how well a drug will work, he added.
Normally when humans and other mammals experience pain, the body reacts to dull the discomfort by releasing natural substances that are similar to medications like morphine.
In earlier studies, researchers had shown that a substance called MK-801 could block the release of these natural painkillers in men, but not in women. And other research showed that certain pain medications, such as pentazocine, appeared to be more effective in women than in men.
So Mogil and his colleagues wanted to see if they could find a gene that impacted the pathway through which the body doles out naturally occurring painkillers in women. Mc1r was a natural suspect because receptors for the protein it encodes appear not only in skin and hair, but also in the part of the brain involved in pain modulation, Mogil said.
The researchers first studied mice, and found similar results in mice that lacked a certain gene, making them analogous to redheaded humans.
SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2003;10.1073/pnas.0730053100.
It said that redheads require more pain medication and anesthesia than "regular" people. I found it interesting because even though I don't have red hair my dad does and I have a really high tolerance to pain medication.
Something that would knock someone else on their butt barely relieves my pain at all.
MKM
THBBBBBPPPPPPP. LOL. Actually, the article doesn't say that us female redheads deal better with pain, just that they react well to a certain drug for pain. Personally, I get nauseated when I get a paper cut.
By Ellen Kuwana Neuroscience for Kids Staff Writer
December 17, 2002
"If you have red hair, you might want to talk to your anesthesiologist before having surgery--and request more anesthesia! A study has shown that women with naturally red hair require up to 20% more anesthesia than dark-haired women.
Researchers administered a commonly used inhalation anesthetic, desflurane, to 20 women (10 redheads and 10 non-redhead controls) between the ages of 19 and 40 years. The researchers then gave small electric shocks to the anesthetized women to measure their pain response. Compared to the non-redheads, the redheads required more anesthesia to reach what the experts judged an "optimum" dose. The optimum dose was determined by the amount of anesthesia needed to suppress movement in response to the small electrical shocks. Because this is a small study and only women were tested, more research needs to be done before generalizations can be made.
Everyone has a unique response to pain. Something that is unbearably painful to one person might be only mildly painful to another. Attention to pain may also influence the perception of that pain.
Redheads, however, apparently feel pain more than most other people because of a quirk of genetics that is linked to having red hair."
sw
I had to read that a couple of times before I understood it. ^-^''''
"Most all women named Erin are redheads but only about 25% of the redheads are named Erin. Guess I could have read the drivers manual.."
Just a guess, mind you, but perhaps the other 75% use Clairol? I have visons of another "scientific study" here..
sw
Wasn't it Clinton who accused the Irish of hitting the bottle too much?
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