Do Redheads Really Feel Less Pain?
By now more people are seemingly aware of the rumor that gingers need more
anesthesia to be sedated or that our pain tolerance is higher than our brunette and
blonde counterparts, but how true is this? Red heads have been made fun of for our
extra pale skin and even given a whole “kick a ginger” day to celebrate us! We may just
be the perfect group to handle such a holiday when it appears the reason for our pale
skin seems to relate to our supposed higher pain threshold. This is not only seen in
humans with red hair, but can be found in other species like mice.
In a study done by Massachusetts General Hospital further understanding of why
redheads may have altered sensitivity to pain was concluded. Everyone has
melanocytes but redheads contain an inactive variant form of the melanocortin 1
receptor gene that can be physically seen in our inability to tan. Researchers studied
red-haired mice that also contain the inactive variant melanocortin 1 receptor and found
that their melanocytes secrete lower levels of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) which is cut
into different hormones. POMC is split into one hormone which blocks pain and another
hormone that sensitizes it, thus balancing each other. In low levels, like in the red
headed mice, this is not necessarily the case because the body produces additional
non-melanocyte related factors that activate opioid receptors. These receptors block
pain which elevates one's threshold for it.
Even though more research needs to be done, these findings suggest evidence
that varying pain thresholds can be experienced by different pigmentation backgrounds.
A decrease in melanocyte related hormones causes more opioid signals to be released
which increases the pain threshold by blocking it, but these are not the only pain
receptors. Research suggests that there may be ways to manipulate the body's natural
pain perception responses with medications such as those that inhibit receptors
involved in sensing pain. There is ongoing work being done to understand how
additional skin signals are regulating pain and opioid signaling to identify ways to care
better for patients.
Alanna Richards (9)
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210403153628.htm
Hi Alanna!
ReplyDeleteI have actually never heard of this phenomenon before, so reading this article was kind of shocking to me (especially the "kick a ginger" thing). The pain threshold research was pretty interesting though, are there any other deficiencies that may cause differences in pain thresholds? and also, do other skin conditions such as albinism reflect the same findings?
Hi Alanna! I have heard about this before, but have never really looked into it so this was a very interesting read! I wonder if there are other factors within the body that influence pain tolerance as well?
ReplyDeleteHi Sneha! There are other receptors in the body, such as the dopamine receptor D1, that when mutated cause people to perceive less pain than others. There are also factors such as age, sex, and past experiences that can alter someone's tolerance to pain.
DeleteHi Alanna! This was really interesting to read because I never thought that this phenomenon could actually be true. It is cool that something such as pigmentation could really have an affect on something that is presumably unrelated such as pain tolerance. Do you know how significant of an effect this actually has on pain tolerance?
ReplyDeleteHi Alanna! I think its so cool when physical traits can be indicators of other genetic tendencies. I’m not sure what the inheritance pattern is of hair color, but is there a chance that being a carrier for red hair makes you a little affected? (Samantha Bunner)
ReplyDeleteHi Samantha! Being a carrier for the gene would have similar effects, not everyone who has 2 copies of this gene version appear with red hair but still have mutated MC1R genes which would influence the pain tolerance.
DeleteHi Alanna, wow thank you for sharing. I have only heard of this assumption in passing but never thought that there was any science behind it. It makes sense as to the slightly different appearances are due to a change of structure - as per almost every biology course emphasizes. do you think that with further research that these traits could be carried over to individuals without these traits for medical purposes?
ReplyDeleteHi Victoria! I believe transferring these traits to others genomes would be beneficial enough to do in practice because there are other factors beyond this receptor that can influence ones pain tolerance. Also this mutation results in red heads needing about 20% more anesthesia to go under than other patients.
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