Redheads Need More Anesthesia than Others

Natural redheads need 20% more anesthesia than other people report scientists. "Redheads are likely to experience more pain from a given stimulus and therefore require more anesthesia to alleviate that pain." said Dr. Edwin Liem of the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Anesthesiology is still very much a mystery to scientists, and picking the right dosage that keeps someone out without killing them is still very much an art. Studies like this will help them determine how anesthesics work and why.

Comments

About red hair

[SexyKellyOsbourne]

Red hair is a phenotype particular only to scarce areas of Northern Europe, mostly in Scotland, Ireland, and Scandinavia -- even there, it is not entirely common.

Blazing red hair is a very recessive trait created entirely by past inbreeding in Europe -- and past inbreeding is a common heritage for Europe, as well, since most Europeans can trace their ancestors back to a very small group of perhaps a dozen Ice Age survivors. It requires not only a 3rd-level hair gene (0-3 for red), it also requires a very low lightness gene (0 for platinum blond, down thru 12 to pitch black), which is extremely recessive as well.

Since the trait is so recessive, the extinction of redheads is predicted to be sometime in the late 21st or early 22nd century, due to population implosion of the native populations of northern Europe and the traits being lost due to interbreeding with those with dominant dark-haired traits.

It's no surprise that redheads have other strange recessive genes that we are only now discovering -- this could prove to be very interesting, and could help a lot in future gene therapy.

Re:About red hair

[johnstein]

wow, i shoulda posted my response below as a reply here. (redheads losing their hair sooner). in fact i now remember a friend i knew from school who had light redish-blonde hair, however he kept it cut very short since his hair was thinning too.

heh, this revelation probably isn't so insightful for those geneticists out there, but it makes me more and more relieved that my mother's brown hair genes won the battle of my head.

-John

Re:About red hair

[The Tyro]

There is considerable genetic variation among racial groups with respect to many drugs.

For example, certain persons of american indian descent have an enzyme deficiency that results in certain paralytic drugs having a greatly prolonged duration of action. Naturally, this is not always something you want in a normally rapid-on/rapid-off neuromuscular blocking agent...

There are also racial tendencies with regard to what classes of blood pressure medications work best with certain racial groups.

This kind of variation (along with anatomic variants) can make the practice of medicine very challenging. Don't go into medicine if you don't like surprises!

Re:About red hair

[Anonymous Coward]

> Red hair is a phenotype particular only to scarce
> areas of Northern Europe, mostly in Scotland,
> Ireland, and Scandinavia -- even there, it is not
> entirely common.

Nope. I know from friends and relatives that red hair is also found among North Indians (especially among Kashmiris), though it is certainly in the minority. My own hair is dark brown with red highlights. But then again, Indians seem to have a wide range of phenotypes in everything from eye, skin, and hair color to the shape of eyes and faces.

Indians in many ways appear often to be more a collection of thousands of micro-ethnicities than a single ethnic group. Though these micro-ethnicities shade into each other at the boundaries, there is a lot of variation between them. It would be interesting to see if the results presented in this study (conducted on people with European ancestry) could be replicated with Indians that have red hair. After all, it could be that this has nothing to do with red-hair in general, but only with a particular way of getting red hair.

Re:About red hair

[Jugalator]

this could prove to be very interesting, and could help a lot in future gene therapy.

It could also help archaeologists understand the predecessors of Homo Sapiens better, if the research saying the "redhead gene" might come from neanderthals is true.

I mean, if redheads are slightly more sensitive to pain somehow, I think it is very likely that neanderthals were as well. And this is things we would never know from "common", material studies alone.

Besides, isn't it thought that blondes are making room for brunettes as well, for reasons similar to what you mention?

Re:About red hair

[NexusTw1n]

If black hair is the more dominant gene then how do you explain my family, parents red and black hair, 3 children all red ?

Or Prince Harry ?

Of the half dozen friends I know with red hair, they all come from one red one black hair parents, which to my (admittedly limited) gene knowledge, seems to indicate red hair is a dominant gene.

Got any links to go with the wild claim red hair is going to be extinct in 100 years ? Or were you just trolling ?

Re:About red hair

[Alsee]

If black hair is the more dominant gene then how do you explain my family, parents red and black hair, 3 children all red ?

It means the parent with black hair has a dominant black-gene and a recessive red-gene, and the red-headed parent has two red-genes. Each child has a 50-50 chance of red or black hair. Three of a kind is not particularly unusual.

Red being a recessive gene means that redheads only have red-genes, a pair of redheads can only have redheaded children. People with black hair could have a hidden red-gene, and a pair of people with black hair could have a red-headed child.

-

Re:About red hair

[dj28]

Uh, the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium theory doesn't work. There are five factors that can throw Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium off course: mutations, gene flow, genetic drift, non-random breeding, and natural selection. As you can see, Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium doesn't hold up in real life. Since genetic flow is a factor to people with red hair, then it will indeed change the allele frequency. So, the other poster is completely correct in his conclusions, and you are misguided.

Re:About red hair

[AndroidCat]

And if you have the gene for Malignant Hyperthemia Susceptibility, certain anaesthetics cause every muscle in your body to spasm, your core temperature skyrockets and you die. Don't talk to me about surprises!

Luckily, when my brother was having his appendix out, it was by the chief surgeon of Toronto General, who just happened to be a friend of Dr. Britt, who at the time was one of the foremost researchers into MHS. He knew exactly what to do. (Ice bath, keep the heart going...)

I almost certainly have the gene too, but the 100% test involves sampling a chunk of muscle tissue from a leg. I'll pass!

Re:About red hair

[AndroidCat]

Scotland in my case. I could see the Maritimes having just a bit of a Scottish background. :^P

Dr. Britt has since retired back to Britain or Ireland. Do you know of any current experts in the Toronto area? It's mainly for dental work -- all the current pain-killers are supposed to be safe, but some dentists freak when you tell them and want some expert to pass the blame to. (One dental surgeon's assistant backed up and said "Is it ongoing?" [Subtext: Can I catch it?] Yeah, ongoing all my life lady, come closer and I'll give you some MHS luvin' and cooties!)

My father has his teeth done at a hospital clinic but that's expensive. Email me or post if you know: androidcat99@hotmail.com.

There might be some bonus to the MHS genes -- Like how the genes for Sickle Cell give you resistance to Malaria if you don't get the full dose. It's hard for me to judge how other people's bodies work, but adrenaline does hit me like a pile-driver, so perhaps some ancestors made fine berserks? (As always, the pay-back is a bitch afterwards.) Bonus: I don't have to drink as much coffee to get completely jazzed!

The large calves might be due to the equivalent of a constant electro-stim "workout". Again, hard for me to judge, but another possible bonus is that during certain acts when muscles clench, they most certainly do, oh yeah!

disease? disorder? Condition, allergy? There is a blood test that can find 100% negative, but if you fail that, you only might have it. Sorry to hear about your girlfriend's family loss. As I said, we were damned lucky when my brother found out the hard way.

Re:About red hair

[AndroidCat]

Thanks!

"Bad" genes is funny things. If they had no benefit and only harm, they'd remove themselves from the pool eventually. (Like Queen Victoria's genetic time-bomb to her in-bred descendants.)

Some, like Sickle Cell as I said above, have a benefit if you don't get the double reenforcement. (Trivia: There's a different gene from Africa that also gives resistance to malaria, and has the same problem when reenforced.) The games theory math for these genes must be very tricky -- on the one hand, they provide a benefit in half-dose and so tend to spread. On the other hand, if they spread too much, they reenforce and tend to kill the host. (Perhaps there are no bad genes, just genes that are misunderstood?)

Mother Nature is the ultimate kludge-artist: "Okay, if I hack this gene, it'll increase blood-flow. It'll cause problems later, but that's tommorow's problem, sucks to be you." I mean, she wired the eye receptor cells with the I/O coming out of the front of the cell! Hopefully all that "unused" genetic information will turn out to be code comments (as well as version control).

Re:About red hair

[AndroidCat]

which is every anethesiologist's nightmare

I can bet. Frequently the first indication of MH in a family is an attack in what should have been a simple operation -- and then it's brown trousers/think fast time. The last estimates I heard were a while ago, but I think it was one in 10,000?

My brother had his operation in the '70's when MH wasn't as widely known, so it was lucky that the surgeon just happened to be very well informed. I'm glad that anesthesiologists are informed. Now if only that would filter out to the GPs and dentists. Ah well. (There are web sites with good info that are easy to find.)

Oddly enough, I did have my tonsils out in the '60's before we knew this. I got through it, but my muscles were sore for days afterwards, so I wonder if maybe the hospital forgot to mention a little reaction...?

Tell their anesthesiologist before any surgery And wear a Medic-Alert bracelet, And keep a card in my wallet. I wouldn't want to ruin an anesthesiologist's day. :^)

Maybe it's really all because I'm part red-head?

I Doubt It

[e8johan]

This proves that correlation studies can be used to find many results. You can find that statistically, red-heads feel pain easier, but this does not say anything about any single individual.
There is a reason to why one says "lies, damn lies and statistics. Correlation has been used to "prove" many things such as racist ideas (superiority due to colour), intelligence from weight etc. A good correlation between two parameters does *not* prove that they are connected!

Re:I Doubt It

[JMemmert]

I concur with the above statement and would like to add some more comments.
I am a dark blonde with no redheads in my family for roughly three generations back (No jokes about inbreeding here, please. ;-))
My tolerance for novocaine, diazepam (valium) and a host of other anesthetics is about 12x normal (tripple the dosage, 1/4th of the duration) and has puzzled more than one specialist. The result of careful analysis has shown that my body eliminates most anesthetics at a much higher rate than normal.
My pain level is no higher or lower than average though my sensitivity to stimuli is much higher than average (I can read a photocopy with my fingertips, sometimes even writing in ink).
Based on that point of data, I'd say that equating sensitivity to stimuli to sensitivity to pain, as it has happened in many posts is probably not a good (i.e. valid) idea. I should be screaming of pain most the time if this were true.
Only empirical evidence with a very limited set of data, I know, but as e8johan stated: "but this does not say anything about any single individual".
The next question is whether sensitivity to pain has any relevance to the effect of an anesthetic.
If I remember correctly, local anesthetics work vastly different from general anesthesia by targeting different areas in the body.
[1] states that Novocaine et al. supress the transmission of stimuli through the nerve while general anesthetics act in the brain ([2] has something about some anesthetics triggering the sleep cycle, for others, I don't know).
Desflurane now is a geneal anesthetic, acting in the brain. So, any reference to "I can do this, I can do that" that does not duplicate the function of a geneal anesthetic is useless...
This means that my impressive tolerance for Novocaine et al. does not have any significance for the research performed as it targets a different type of anesthetic. The same goes for many other comments along the same lines, including alcohol.
Alcohol acts as an inhibitor ([3] states: "Alcohol acts primarily at the GABAa receptor to facilitate its action, thus in essence creating enhanced inhibition.") but does not have a sufficiently strong effect that the person affected could consciously compare it to a geneal anesthetic...
As for the use of alcohol as geneal anesthetic, which would be the next logical argument... it's not been very effective prior to complete unconsciousness and the level and speed of alcohol absorption plays a huge role. That also rules out any comment along the lines of "I can drink more than an ox".

I won't ask for people to check what they're writing for relevance... after all, I enjoy many of the comments I read here, but it is considered bad style to criticize the work of others without enough commonalities between the work and the critical remarks.

Re:What about... sex?

[Anonymous Coward]

My wife is a redhead. For her, more stimulation is better. (She's getting a Sybian for christmas. If you don't know how STIMULATING one of those can be... well, you need to do some "research".)

Another interesting thing... one orgasm is 'it' for her. After she has finished, she is so sensitive that she cannot tolerate being touched sexually. Perhaps that is somehow related to this research... (nerve sensitivity?)

Blondes vs. redheads

[Farang]

From the article: "Red hair is the first visible human trait...linked to anesthetic requirement." Not sure what "anesthetic requirement" actually is, but I recall that years ago it was reported that blue-eyed people have a higher tolerance for pain. Whether that lowers their anesthetic requirement... I believe "anesthesia" means "without sensation," in other words unconscious. So what are we talking about here? Do we mean the ability to tolerate perceived pain, or how easily one slips into unconsciousness after being drugged? Are the two related?

Their conclusion is flawed

[Dynedain]

Another comment now that I've read the article.

They claim their findings indicate redheads are more susceptable to pain.

Based on what is presented in their article, an equaly valid point can be made:
anesthesia is less effective on redheads.

Both are legit conclusions from the presented evidence. Either redheads could feel more pain, or their bodies may not absorb/be affected by intoxicants as much.

Explains why the redheaded cultures are known for impressive drinking skills.

Re:Their conclusion is flawed

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep. fair. I'm *very* redheaded -- mom and dad both very red.

When I had to have a major op as a kid, they had to give me a whole bunch of anesthetic to put me out. The normal "count down from 10" act didn't work. I had to have three attempts that I remember. When I had my lower wisdom teeth out, the normal 5 injections in the jaw went up to 40 injections before I lost enough feeling to start, and they had to keep topping me up, and it still hurt.

I'm also extremely resistant to ibuprofen, paracetamol, codeine, morphine, and a whole bunch of other pharms. Aspirin's the only one that works, and I need about twice the dose of someone else my age/height/build. My alcohol tolerance has always been extremely high. Marijuana has no effect on me whatsoever. I'm allergic or resistant to most medicines I've ever had.

More importantly, my mom has have _woken up_ during a major operation. Luckily they noticed quickly and put her under again. She also has similar resistance to pharmaceutical drugs.

I'd have to go with "anesthesia is less effective on redheads". I'd also flag it (Score: -1, Well Duh). More research from the Institute of the Blindingly Obvious.

Posting anonymously, because I've already moderated some of the more bigoted posts in this article. Some people don't realise the reason redheads tend to have short tempers is the amount of shit they get from bigots while growing up -- something the bigots obviously don't do.

Anecdotal experience

[bollucks]

I'm a specialist anaesthetist and for many years we have anecdotal reports of redheads being more resistant to anaesthesia. We certainly find clinically that this is the case and also there is information that they are more likely to suffer a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). Many of these anecdotal reports are what start these interesting studies initially conducted on small samples and lead to serendipitous discoveries of how things work.

I'm with you

[Wee]

What I've noticed is that when it comes to alcohol, caffiene, and other intoxicants/stimulants, I need a much higher dosage to feel the effects. I have a higher alcohol tolerance than antyone I know, matched only by a binge drinker who weighs 60 lbs more than I do.

I don't think that I'm more susceptible to pain either. Friends frequently refer to me as the guy with the 'asbestos hands'. If anything, I have a higher pain tolerance than most

I don't buy it either. I'm pretty blond-ish (I've got reds in my beard and mixed in with a bunch of light colors in my hair) and I'm rather light-skinned. I'd describe myself almost exactly as you describe yourself. I even have a friend like yours with a higher tolerance than myself (although he's recently stopped drinking). I hardly feel pain and when I do it's usually too late.

I've broken all of my fingers (most twice), most of my toes, a few ribs, both ankles and both wrists. I have a 10" long "depression" in my skull from when I cracked it playing football in the house at age 6 (dove for a "pass", hit the little metal striker plate on the door jamb). I had a double hernia at 18 months old. When I was growing up, I'd say I had a cast/splint on something for about 3 months out of every year. For the longest time, everyone thought I was really fragile. Turns out I just didn't feel it when something broke, and so never had that "Don't dive into a tackle with your fingers sticking out" negative reinforcement. I'd break something and not notice until I couldn't bend a joint or it hurt later on when I moved it in some way.

I've even broken fingers and not known it. I once went in to the emergency room for a sprain or whatever and they discovered an old break I didn't remember. That was when I did go into the emergency room. After a while, I stopped because it was too expensive (and I had a full set of splints anyway). That's why to this day I can't touch type; I took typing class three times but could never complete it (twice for fingers, once for wrist).

I don't get cold very easily. I mean, wiping ice off a windshield is no big deal. Hot isn't terribly bothersome, either. Reaching into a campfire to move a log around or into water to get corn (or whatever) isn't something I normally think about not doing. It takes a couple more beers than most people to get a head of steam going, and I never ever throw up from drinking. I'm not ticklish. When I get a splinter, I just take it out with a scalpel and a small incision because it's easier and quicker than digging around. A healthy splash of rubbing alcohol afterward isn't bad at all. I've had a tooth (accidentally) removed without anesthesia. That hurt a lot. It takes a couple Vicodins to do any good. Curisouly, aspirin works very well for most stuff. When I get a headache, it's migraine-quality.

Long story short, I don't buy the relationship between hair color/skin tone and nerve responsiveness. I know I'm only a sample of one (and a highly biased researcher :-) but the theory just doesn't hold water. I am not more susceptible to pain than most people.

BTW, I haven't broken anything in four years. If the lack of negative physical feedback didn't teach me to be careful, the feedback of "no type, no money" sure did. I still do stuff like play paintball, it's just that I tend to think a little more carefully about what I need to do before I do it.

Oh yeah, I'm not Dutch. Scotch-Irish/English, with a teensy bit of Polish.

-B

Women only studied so far....

[Goonie]

Wonder if the results are generalizable to men as well.

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that male and female responses to pain are somewhat different (beyond the obvious differential responses to anaesthetics caused by different body weight). Any of the anaesthetists who've posted care to comment?

Brainy Blondes do exist!

[The real Anne Marie]

Many blondes are brainier than you'd suspect.

Just go to brainyblonde.com

Ya, it's really me and my site.

Anne Marie

Conclusion might be backwards

[LtOcelot]

The article doesn't indicate that participants were tested for pain sensitivity in the absence of anesthetic. This is an important control case -- without it, there's no telling whether redheads have greater sensitivity to pain or greater insensitivity to anesthetic.

Re:I don't buy their conclusion.

[Anonymous Coward]

Beeing more sensitive to pain, doesnt necesary mean that the pain tolerance is any lower.
It is actually the people that has the most sensitive taste that likes the hottest spice. This is because the are so sensitive to the spice that their nerve system shuts down most of the pain signal to the brain, and also some of the taste at the same time.

Maybe redheads that are more sensitive to pain, also have a nerve system that block extreme pain faster then other people do. This can explain why redheads maybe are more sensitive then others, but also maybe have a higher tolerance of pain.

Re:What about... food?

[swv3752]

I agree mostly. I like Dutch spicy mustard. Most other caucasins don't realy like it. My entire dad's family likes spicy mustard but my mom hates it. My dad is Dutch, while my mom is Lithuanian and Scottish. German spicy mustard has sugar added and I hate it. I think there is a bit of genetic predisposition going on. That sure doesn't explain my love of Mexican and Oriental food though.

I'm a natural redhead...

[_outcat_]

...and I have found this to be true in my case. Whenever I go to my dentist he's always surprised how much anasthetic I need. I get the dosage. We wait like ten minutes or so, and it's still not numb. We wait longer. Still nothing. Finally he gives me another dose. Two hours after the filling/procedure/whatever NO PAINKILLERS exist any longer anywhere in my body, and my mouth hurts.

Maybe this sensitivity has a correlation to the stereotypical "redhead temper." I know I'm a bit prone to fits of rage myself. (Yeah, okay, I've got a horrible temper and no one should ever be a passenger in a car that I'm driving because a sweet little redheaded girl turns into a demonic monster from hell behind the wheel screeching all kinds of obscenities especially when I'm in New Jersey but that's another stereotype for another day. I digress.) I'm such a wuss about pain, so I might have just started reacting more to negative things. Hence the temper.

I don't know, just my two cents..

Me at the dentist

[macdaddy]

My dentist has always told me that I take an incredibly high dosage of the stuff they shoot in your gums when you have cavities filled. When they pulled my wisdom teeth last year, the pulling took about 10 minutes, max. Getting me numb pushed through 2 of his other appointments. Usually he gives you some shots and goes to work on someone else and returns when he's done there. That way the shots have time to take effect. Well when he did mine, he gave me a little extra like normal. Then went on to the next person. He came back and started poking around, asking if I could feel it. I could feel it and told him. More shots. He left again. Came back. Still could feel the prodding. More shots. He left, came back. Finally it was numb enough to procede. I always have needed a lot of that stuff to get numb. He could have simply played a tape of my old english teacher talking and I would have been right out. Nope. Always wants to do it the hard way. :-)

Re:What about... food?

[operagost]

asians and indians in general seem to be able to take more spicy and salty food before the food starts to taste bad to them, whereas i've noticed caucasians in general can't take one bit of spicy food, and their threshold for salt is quite low.

You've obviously never been to the southwest US. It's full of gringos who've become accustomed to the taste of jalapenos (and worse). I love it too, even though I've lived my whole life in the northeast US. I suggest it's nurture, not nature.

Pheromones

[Robotech_Master]

I found an article on the 'net some time ago which noted that blondes and redheads produced different (more effective?) pheromones than brunettes. It was quite an interesting article, from about the mid 1970s; unfortunately, when I try to google on it now, all I find are human pheromone perfume advertisements.

Totally true. Confirms lifelong beliefs

[jeblucas]

Holy crap! I am behind this study 100%. I have all kinds of personal stories related to this. I was always in a -lot- of pain at the dentist. My families teeth are as hard as rocks, thank G-d, but if I did manage to get a cavity it was a devestating affair. The shot would hurt, the novacaine would take a long time to start working, and it -still- hurt like a mother.

Fast forward a couple of years. I slice my hand open and need to get stitches at the emergency room. The tech gives me a shot of lidocaine and leaves for ten minutes. Comes back and starts to clean the wound with iodine, and I wince because it is killing me. He's -stunned- that I can feel anything. He gives me another shot and rubs my hand hand "to get it dispersed". Comes back in another ten minutes and marvels as I cringe through the stitches. He said, "You are processing the anesthetic very quickly--you should advise your doctor of this in the future."

Since then, it's been a nice conversation point, but no it seems to have a little backing. I feel somewhat vindicated.