Posted on 02/20/2003 5:52:00 PM PST by MadIvan
Only a tiny genetic difference can separate a macho man from a wimp, says a study published today.
A variation in a single gene may explain why some people can withstand pain - or other physical or emotional stress - better than others, a team from the University of Michigan and the National Institutes of Health reports.
In the journal Science, the team describes how a small variation in the gene encoding an enzyme - catechol-O-methyl transferase, or COMT - made a significant difference in the pain tolerance, and pain-related emotions and feelings, of volunteers.
Genetics may not make all the difference between wimps and Marines, but the finding adds to evidence of variations in individuals' response to pain being mainly due to biological factors affecting the brain.
In the study the pain came from a carefully controlled salt-water injection into the jaw muscles of the volunteers.
By combining genetic testing with molecular brain imaging techniques the researchers could see how well participants' brains controlled pain, and how they felt as a result, depending on their COMT.
The research could help explain how perceptions of pain affect chronic conditions and depressive illness. "Examining and detailing the biochemistry of these processes can then lead to more effective treatments," said Dr Zubieta.
Sexist nonsense. In many individual cases I've observed the exact opposite.
I wonder how populated the world would be then if men had to have the babies. Not many would get a kidney stone on purpose.
The second part of it is that once you've reached that pain threshhold you can handle lower levels of pain pretty well. It's all comparative, I guess.
I wonder where they got the subjects for the study. I mean, coming up with wimps is easy, just visit Michigan State or Ohio State, but finding a real he-man in the People's Democratic Socialist Republic of Ann Arbor has got to be rather like finding a needle in a haystack...
Full disclosure: I did my undergrad at the University of Michigan's main campus ;-) in Dearborn.
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