Melanocortin-1 Gene for Red Hair and Pain Tolerance
Progress in science often means that existing theories are proven wrong. Ideas are overturned, causing confusion about what we should do to stay healthy and live longer. At some point, it seems best just to live a life of moderation and keep your head down.
This month, scientists from the University of Edinburgh announced a mutation that disables the melanocortin-1 gene which, in women only, leads to red hair and a higher tolerance for pain. Normally, the melanocortin-1 gene produces a protein that reduces the efficacy of opiate drugs, but without a functional gene, natural and artificial painkillers appear to induce a three-fold stronger effect in redheaded women.
“It does appear that redheads have a significantly different pain threshold and require less anaesthetic to block out certain pains,” Professor Ian Jackson of the Medical Research Council’s Human Genetics Unit, said.
I hate to contradict Professor Jackson (ok, maybe I like it), but three years ago, research suggested quite the opposite. Redheads were found to be more sensitive to pain and in need of more anesthesia during surgery.
Neither study is particularly convincing. The most recent study examined mice and the older study studied only ten redhaired women.
In any case, understanding the underlying pathophysiology of pain will eventually make it possible for each of us to have a personalized pain treatment program that will calibrate the most appropriate amounts of addictive painkillers and side-effect causing anesthesia. Now if we could only get the story straight.
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POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health
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18 opinions for Melanocortin-1 Gene for Red Hair and Pain Tolerance
Qadira
Aug 24, 2005 at 9:37 am
I am confused why they think determining pain based upon hair color is a great idea. I know my own hair was pale pale blond as a child, but has become almost brown as an adult. My hair, and many people’s hair if you talk to hairdresers, is a composite of several different colors. I have individual hairs that are jet black, vibrant red, pale blond, muddy nondescript, and even *sigh* a couple gray & silver ones (but I pull those out when I find them).
How much red hair would I have to have total in order for my hair color to affect my body’s reaction to pain medication? And how on earth is a mouse study going to determine something like that? Maybe they mean people who’s hair is truly all one color naturally.
The other thing that puzzles me isn’t really a problem, it’s more of a curiosity. And that is how the brain itself recognizes pain and assigns a reaction to it- if hair color were a definitive guide, you would think that the anecdotal evidence among dentists and other people who poke humans with sharp objects, would indicate a consistent need for more-than-average or less-than-average pain meds in certain color of hair patients. I haven’t actually looked for such data, so maybe it is out there, and is part of what has made scientists interested in studying the hair color/pain correlation.
I wonder how much environment/upbringing and personality contribute to how we perceive and manage pain. It would be potentially disastrous to automatically give a redhead patient 3X the medication without other considerations being factored in.
Lei
Aug 24, 2005 at 10:08 pm
Q, You bring up so many good points (as usual). So many people dye their hair now that it would be a very imprecise way to determine anything, least of all something as important as medication.
As for pain being subjective, that is so true. In any case, I’m hoping anesthesiologist and other doctors are a bit more sophisticated in determining dosages of pain killers and anesthesia.
teri
Oct 30, 2005 at 11:52 pm
As a true redhead, all i can say is various pain medicines have little to no affect on me - for instance, lidocaine. a lidocaine patch is nothing more than a sticky piece of paper on my skin. No one could figure out why… now it makes sense… It’s a problem finding a medicine for pain relief.
Lei
Oct 31, 2005 at 1:48 am
teri, Thank you for sharing your experience. In the future, we’ll hopefully be able to tailor pain medications for different people based on their genetic make-up. Hope you find appropriate pain relief soon!
Robert
Feb 22, 2006 at 12:45 pm
The question is, Qadira, do you have the MC1R gene? I have dark brown hair on my head, but my goatee is red, as well is my beard (if I grow it out). So, I won’t have that 25% extra pain tolerance if I don’t have MC1R, but I do have red hair.
colleen
Feb 5, 2007 at 4:13 pm
is it safe to go ahead and give read heads and upper dose? should doctors automaticly give them more?
Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD
Feb 6, 2007 at 8:10 pm
colleen: Please check with your anesthesiologist on latest protocol.
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Mar 4, 2007 at 2:21 am
well… let’s just say that i really needed this pg 2 use 4 my speech… it gave me info
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Mar 4, 2007 at 2:23 am
thnx 4 listening. and by the way, i’m probably the least pain tolerant red head in the world.
Susie
Jun 24, 2007 at 1:20 pm
My OB GYN doctor was part of the first study.
Even at the dentist I seem to never get enough in those injections to stop the pain completely. They sometimes have to keep do it a couple of times, and finally tell me just to live with it. So I think we just have trouble metabolizing anesthetics.
However, I also feel like I do have a higher threshold to more pain at the same time.
shai
Jul 20, 2007 at 8:40 am
As a natural redhead, I could have told them this years ago. When I was in my middle teens,my dentist always had to knock me totally out with ‘laughing gas’, or I would be grabbing his hands! Then I injured my back and am on pain med’s for that. We tried everything for the pain on that, even oxycodone, and morphine, neither which worked. Finally got Vicodan and it works. I also get no relief with most muscle relaxers. I saw the original article concerning this about 5 years ago and cut it out of the paper and took it to my dr’s and said “ah ha! Now I have the proof!” Loved it!
Melissa
Oct 26, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Hey! You are talking about how linking hair color and pain tolerance is illogical becuase people die their hair? Did you forget that no matter what color hair you appear to have your genes are predispositioned to reflect a certain color?! That is what they are talking about!!!!!!!
wyomingRN
Feb 14, 2008 at 7:01 pm
FInally!!!!!
I have had doctors and dentists believe that I am a drug-seeking loser–now I am finding out that I have a 95% chance of having this gene. I am red-headed, and I have told doctors and dentists, and anesthesiologists that I have a high tolerance for medication, and a different threshold for pain than “normal” people. My daughter seems to have the same gene. It is so nice to finally not feel like a “loser”. Thank-you guys so much!!!
Caroline
May 20, 2008 at 6:33 am
I’m a natural red-head who has just gotten her wisdom teeth out and my anesthiologist told me that I would be less receptive to my pain medicine. The only thing is, it helped the pain, but most of my other friends who have ever needed pain medications it has made them loopy if you know what I mean. So when they put me on hydros my pain pretty much subsided (with still a little bit of just dull pain I assumed was normal), but other than being sleepy I’m still just me. So I decided to look up some information on the internet, because my husband is red headed as well and has an extremely high pain tolerance and the same receptiveness to pain medications, and found this site. I just wanted to put my story on here so it could possibly help someone in the future with questions like mine.
Anonymous
Jun 26, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I’m a readhead with green eyes, fair skin and a few freckles, but I don’t know if I have this MC1R gene. I’ve never needed any kind of medicine during an operation at the dentist, and I’ve never needed any kind of painkillers after a fight (I do martial arts).
My mum has brown hair, and my father had red hair the first 20 years of his life, but he now has brown hair as well.
I don’t think these tests are true, IF I have the MC1R gene. But who knows…
Where do I find out if I have the MC1R gene?
(Sorry if my English is bad, but I’m not from an English-talking country)
Kim
Sep 10, 2008 at 4:30 am
I too am a natural redhead. I do have a high pain tolerance and thank goodness for that as I metabolize anesthetics and painkillers rapidly. I do believe that when the medication is administered they pack the full punch the doctor intends but the effects don’t last. Such was the case when I had a root canal recently. The dentist kept pumping in the Novacaine but each shot would last about five minutes at most. Finally the doc apologetically said that he would have to finish without without any more shots as my heart was racing and he was too far into the procedure to bring in an anesthesiologist. Post-op pain management isn’t much better. Vicodin lasts 45 minutes to an hour at most. Morphine comes and goes faster than I can say, “ouch it hurts!” Again thank goodness for higher pain tolerance than most!
Melissa
Nov 3, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I am a natural red head and I can tell you that I can tolerate moderate pain but when it gets bad enough pain pills don’t usually work for me. After My husband had dental work he could take a hydrocodone and be knocked out but with me I usually have to take 2 and then the pain starts to decrease a little bit. I am going in tomorrow for dental work, having all 4 wisdom teeth pulled, and I’m a little nervous that I won’t respond to the anesthesia. A couple of years ago I had surgery for cervical cancer, and when they tried to “knock me out” it didn’t go so well and they had to use the mask instead of just an iv.
As for the hot / cold discussion, I get hot very easily, it can be 70 degrees in my house and I’m burning up, my husband is exact opposite and is usually freezing. Needless to say I still have my air conditioner on in the winter. If it gets too hot like in the 90’s then I get hot flashes and feel like my face is on fire, and then I get very moody and don’t want to be bothered. I do have a fiery temper, and I’ve always been told it’s because of my red hair, but never put much thought into it. However the more I research this theory the more I find it’s true. I hate that it seems harder for me to control my temper than my husband, or others. My doctor put me on prozac thinking that it would help with my mood swings, but I don’t see a difference at all. Do any other red heads have problems with mood swings or am I just crazy :) ???
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Nov 24, 2008 at 6:43 pm
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