Posted on 12/11/2005 2:03:17 PM PST by paulat
Stoic Redheads
By AMY SULLIVAN Published: December 11, 2005
Redheads have long been portrayed in literature and art as strong-willed and fiery. Now there may be a scientific explanation for these traits. The key, according to researchers at McGill University in Montreal, is a gene that is linked both to red hair coloring and to higher levels of pain tolerance. It has been known since the mid-1990's that mutations of the MC1R gene are responsible for hair color - and fair skin and freckles - in about 70 percent of redheads. But when Jeffrey S. Mogil and his colleagues at McGill set out to find a genetic link to pain inhibition, MC1R wasn't at the top of their list of targets. "We normally only get excited about genes in the brain when it comes to pain," he says. "This is in the skin." There was, however, a little-noticed paper that said MC1R was in fact expressed in the brain. It was enough of a clue to go on.
So, earlier this year, Mogil ran some mice through a battery of pain tests, using mice with the red-hair gene as his test group. (A collaborator in the Netherlands ran the same study with humans, giving them electrical shocks to the leg.) When animals and humans experience pain, their brains release natural opiates similar to morphine. In most cases, however, the MC1R gene produces a protein that interferes with the efficacy of those substances as well as of artificial painkillers. What Mogil found is that the variant of MC1R that causes red hair also appears to allow these opiates to work unimpeded. As a result, redheads can withstand up to 25 percent more pain than their blond and brunet peers do before saying "stop."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Anyone married to a redhead can appreciate your screen name :0)
Is that from yesterday, or today?
Red hair is a remnant trait of Neanderthals.
The salt and peppered look (on a once fully dark haired man) is sexy.
From last night.
This is just like all those "coffee is good for you/coffee is bad for you, eggs are good for you/eggs are bad for you" studies. I would tend to believe the previous study, however. I am a blonde who sunburns in the shade in CA and AZ. I also need a TON of novocaine!
Vikings then?
We are like everyone else--we run the gamut from inteligence to stupidity, from firey to very dull, from slim to fat--an on and on. Every freeper who know me, of course, thinks I'm wonderful--never get upset, steady as she goes, has to think about things before I open my mouth--etc. In a word, just about perfect--LOL!
I also sell swamp land in Florida, if anyone is interested.
Oh--just so you will know and never make THAT mistake again, carrot tops are green.
Here's one more thing y'all might not know--but I know it's true because my daddy told me when I was a little girl:
Once upon a time, everyone was covered in freckles--and every time someone told a lie, one of their freckles would fly away.
Hey, babe, aren't you a redhead?
You're such a party animal. LOL.
BTT
Well, they are the ones responsible for producing the redheaded Irish and Scots you see today.
Reminds me of a lady I worked with, who'd say, "I'd rather be dead than have a red head"...
Interesting.
On the contrary – I don't drink much and more than 2-3 glasses of wine means trouble.
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