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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.
They're just more pissy, thats all. Blondes go under real fast because theres not as much brain to put asleep.
Cheers,
Abe.
Thanks Slashdot!
Do they need 20% less stimulation? :)
so that's why I spend so much on alcohol...
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.
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!
I am a redhead who is dating a redhead, and who has red haired relatives all over my family tree. I can tell you that redhead pain sensitivity is no more or less than anyone else. You can believe what you want, but just remember: If you tell an irishman he can't handle pain, he'll cut his own balls off to prove it, then he'll shove them down your throat and stomp your ass into a mudhole so you remember. Believe me.
Then again, these were scientists from the University of Kentucky. Who better to study redheads, than rednecks?
On a serious note, this doesn't surprise me too much. Redheads are well known for having extremely sensitive skin. Ever see a redhead with a tan? If you have, it was a rarity, most redheads go straight from pasty-white to fire-engine red; freckles (another sensitivity based reaction to the sun) are more common among redheads than folks with locks of other colors. So it seems logical that this would extrapolate to other areas of pain and sensitivity.
Bart Wilkins
Chrisd: I know.
Taco: well, do soemethiung abouttit man!!1!
Chrisd: Some poor schmuck submitted a storie a few minutes ago about the effect of anesthesis on readhe...
Taco: yeah, post that. Do it!!1!!
Chrisd: Are you sure???
Taco: Do it, dammit!!!1!1!
Chrisd: OK...
Red-Haired Girls
[Setting: A Tree-Filled Field in the Woods.]
[The It's A Fact Girl jumps in front of the camera and into a close up.]
It's A Fact Girl: It's A Fact.
[The It's A Fact Girl runs back into the woods, in sped up motion. When she stops, Scott as The Queen of England leans over in front of the camera and smiles as she addresses it.]
Scott: Hello. When I was a little girl, if a child was born with red hair, she was considered irreparably evil and drowned as a witch. It's a fact!
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
Redheads Need More Anesthesia than Others
What section is this, ChrisD's lurve tips?
I am a Karma Library.
I've got red hair, bright red. I've got freckles too, though fewer now than when i was a kid. I'm 20 now. Anyways, the only thing that i've noticed about having red hair is that you get sunburnt easily. Other than that, nothing. In fact, i think i have a higher than average tolerance for pain. It's hard to compare levels of pain with others, of course, but I don't find myself hurting more than others at all.
The article states that, in general, redheads felt more pain. But what if i don't? What if i feel less pain than average? Directly linking hair-color to pain reception is tenuous at best, and it seems like doctors messing with my anestheisa beacuase of my hair color could be bad, with the threat of coma.
I've never heard of hair color affecting ANYTHING before. Sure race affects some things, like reactions to certain drugs, and diseases. Sex and age as well will determine the best treatment. But hair color? What about eye color, does that factor in?
It seems like this is a broad generaliztion, and i don't think this can be the deciding criteria for pain reception. I don't buy it this first time round, if only based on personal experience.
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.
I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
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.
Keep in mind that you'll have to make the tranquilizer dart 20% heavier to make Carrot-Top less annoying
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
Patient: Uhm - WHAT are you doing?
...
Doctor: Well, Miss Everhart I need to verify that you're a 'real redhead' before we proceed with the operation to ensure proper dosage
The Pjammer Chronicles --
>and that topical gel stuff they put on your gums before the injection? That actually CAUSES me pain.
:-/
Five bucks says it feels like your mouth is on fire wherever they apply it. I find it useless, too. Can't they find a better way to inject than to go an inch into the joint in my gums? I can't imagine there's anywhere else it could hurt more... And they make sure your muscles are as as stretched as possible for maximum pain (ok, they don't do it on purpose, and I could always lay off the candy).
"Don't worry, it just feels like a mosquito bite". Yeah, like a mosquito bite on my crotch, maybe.
Carbocaine sounds great, but with previous experiences with other prescription pain killers, I'm wary to try it.
Last major dental surgery was having wisdom teeth removed. After waking up, I puked lots of blood (I'm told I was a real winner for the amount -- and the first in the last while) and was given Toradol for the pain.
After two Toradols I sat in a seat for a while trying to catch my breath while my heart was racing (probably a stupid thing to do -- next time I'll get my ass to the hospital instead). So again, I lived with the pain, and used that super-duper tylenol they prescribe you instead.
Maybe I'm just an over-sensitive, over-complaining loser, though. Or it could be the fact I haven't been in hospital for anything serious for a couple of decades. No, the first one sounds more realistic.
Thanks for the suggestion anyways. I'll ask about it...
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
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
Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.
And no - I am not about to say some racist thing.
I just recall in my days of competitive running that I was taught at the OTC that people with genes from one side of Africa have certain body makeups and are mostly fast twitch fibers, and people from the other side are mostly slow twitch.
What does that have to do with any of this? The odd thing that they also noted was that natural red heads had nearly identical makeups to the fast twitch section of people that they studied in Africa.
This meant that if you were at a track race and were looking at the top runners winning a sprinting race - the odds were going to indicate it more likely that the people of African decent (aren't we all if we go back far enough?) would most likely be genetically from the same area, and the white people would most likely have red hair.
And once I started looking for it, I was impressed that it actually rang true - lots of fast Irish guys.
I've never seen much mention of anything pointing out red heads since that study until now - usually hair color isn't thought to mean much in the grand scheme of things (aside from my preferring blondes).
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
What do you call a smart blonde? A golden retriever.
How ya like dat?
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
So, being Kevin Mitnick's sidekick on a radio show qualifies her as brainy? Will it work if I put Anna Nicole Smith on a show with Bill Nye, The Science Guy? Did you notice that there aren't many redhead jokes? That's because the last guy to tell them got killed.
How ya like dat?
Long term exposure to Capsaicin such as extreme hot sauce may cause pain receptors to become "desensitized".
However, pain receptors are completely different from taste receptors. In fact, Capsaicin fakes out the pain receptors as it simulates real damage. This tricks the brain into producing endorphins, which promote a pleasant sense of well-being or even an alterted state of consciousness. The endorphin high can make spicy foods mildly addictive (and for some, such as myself, a complete obsession).
What I've noticed is that people seem to have a great need to feel unique, and making up wacky-ass medical anomalies seems to be a popular means. "Oh, tylenol doesn't work for me..." or "My body eliminates anesthetics at 4x the normal rate" or "anesthetic gel actually CAUSES me pain" or this git above. You're not a beautiful snowflake, get over it.
Yo dawg, I heard you like the Ackermann function, so OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD