Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Redheads are better at coping with pain
CTV.ca ^

Posted on 08/11/2005 12:10:20 PM PDT by Grig

People with ginger locks are head and shoulders above blondes or brunettes when it comes to coping with pain, researchers claim.

Scientists have found that the gene responsible for flame-coloured hair also produces a morphine-type substance that acts like an anaesthetic and reduces pain.

When researchers at the Medical Research Council in London introduced the gene in mice, they found the rodents could withstand more pain than normal.

"Seventy per cent of redheads are redheads because a particular gene doesn't work," Prof. Jeff Mogil of Montreal's McGill University, told CTV News.

"This is a gene that would otherwise give you brown hair. This gene is also relevant to pain and pain killing by certain drugs."

Researchers in Scotland will now launch studies on humans to confirm the theory.

The findings could lead to the development of new drugs to combat chronic pain.

The hair colour gene produces a protein pivotal to feeling pain.

In blondes and brunettes, it produces high levels of the protein, which means they feel pain much more keenly.

The gene that's linked to red hair, melanocortin-1, dates back about 100,000 years.

Ancient Romans considered the colour unlucky but the Egyptians thought redheads were favoured by the gods. Some of the Pharaohs were ginger.

Britain's greatest warrior, Boudicca, was a redhead. One Roman described her as "tall and terrifying... a great mass of red hair fell over her shoulders".

Being tougher than the rest could also explain the strength of famous redheads through the ages.

Napoleon, Cleopatra, Columbus, Vincent Van Gogh, William Shakespeare, George Washington, Florence Nightingale and Winston Churchill were all redheads.


TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: freckles; gingergene; gingers; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; redhair; redheads; spankem
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last
I don't buy it. My wife is a redhead and I would say she has LESS tollerance for pain.
1 posted on 08/11/2005 12:10:21 PM PDT by Grig
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Grig

2 posted on 08/11/2005 12:12:43 PM PDT by Pyro7480 ("All my own perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded upon Our Lady." - Tolkien)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

Umm... and how exactly do you know that ?


3 posted on 08/11/2005 12:12:48 PM PDT by farlander
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

Cleopatra?


4 posted on 08/11/2005 12:13:20 PM PDT by DesignerChick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

All the redheads I've known had a very high tolerance for my pain.


5 posted on 08/11/2005 12:13:58 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim (Now that taglines are cool, I refuse to have one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

Mmmmmmmm, redheads...


6 posted on 08/11/2005 12:14:23 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

Redheads have always eased my pain.


7 posted on 08/11/2005 12:14:25 PM PDT by popdonnelly
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

Red-headed stepchildren everywhere are thankful for this gene.


8 posted on 08/11/2005 12:15:24 PM PDT by Cyclopean Squid (Performing at a level just a hair above incompetence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

uuummmmmmm RedHeads, cigars, beer, rock and roll, and sex.


9 posted on 08/11/2005 12:16:41 PM PDT by devane617
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tijeras_Slim

10 posted on 08/11/2005 12:16:47 PM PDT by TheBigB (Gum would be perfection!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Grig

Maybe why some great Boxers have been Irish.


11 posted on 08/11/2005 12:17:00 PM PDT by Paradox (Budweiser, fighting for the Right to Keep and Beer Arms.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

Red Headed = Viking genes = tougher than the rest of you.


12 posted on 08/11/2005 12:17:02 PM PDT by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

Well, they are certainly better at inflicting it. ;)


13 posted on 08/11/2005 12:17:20 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ("Democracy...will be revengeful, bloody, and cruel." -- John Adams)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

Mmmmmm......redheads.......X-files....mmmm

14 posted on 08/11/2005 12:17:21 PM PDT by OB1kNOb (A closed mouth gathers no foot.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig
I'm a redhead and I can tell you that this study is fatally flawed. There was one a couple of years ago that concluded that redheads have much less tolerance of pain and often require more sedatives or painkillers than blondes or brunettes. They also tend to bleed more. My OB-GYN and my dentist agree.

Carolyn

15 posted on 08/11/2005 12:17:57 PM PDT by CDHart (The world has become a lunatic asylum and the lunatics are in charge.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig
I'm a redhead and my bro's a redhead

i have a very high pain tolerance, and he screams in agony when he gets a scratch. And he's a bright red head too. I don't buy it.

16 posted on 08/11/2005 12:18:20 PM PDT by RedBeaconNY (Vous parlez trop, mais vous ne dites rien.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grig

I dated a redhead and she could dish it out pretty good so I guess it is true


17 posted on 08/11/2005 12:18:23 PM PDT by AppyPappy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rodney King

Berserkers were red-heads weren't they?

And my red hair is magic...via my wonderful hairdresser (I just don't ask her how she does it)...so I'm a weinie when it comes to pain.


18 posted on 08/11/2005 12:18:51 PM PDT by najida (I officially have a home-- ~~sigh~~ with ice cubes even.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: DesignerChick

It isn't inprobable. Cleopatra was descended from Greeks. Also, there are Jewish and Iranian redheads.


19 posted on 08/11/2005 12:18:52 PM PDT by Pyro7480 ("All my own perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded upon Our Lady." - Tolkien)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Grig

If this were true, then redheads should be tougher and therefore more likely to survive. So why did I just read that the redheads were recessive and that gene is being bred out?

Seems contradictory.


20 posted on 08/11/2005 12:19:30 PM PDT by Not A Snowbird (Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson