As a result, you may need 20% more anesthesia to be completely knocked out before a medical procedure than either a blonde or a brunette would, according to a study from the University of Louisville. And you might need higher-than-usual amounts of other pain relievers as well. This link between hair color, pain, and anesthesia may be traced to a glitch hidden deep within redheads’ genetic codes, suspects researcher Edwin B. Liem, MD, an anesthesiologist at the university. Receptors for melanocyte-stimulating hormone, the hormone that tells cells to produce the skin—and hair—color pigment melanin, don’t function normally in redheads. As a result, most redheads end up getting sunburned instead of tanned. The dysfunction might indirectly stimulate a brain receptor that boosts pain sensitivity, Dr. Liem says. “In a nutshell, we think redheads are likely to experience more pain from a given stimulus and therefore require more anesthesia.” Anesthesiologists have long noticed that surgery patients with fiery manes seem to need more anesthesia. To test the link, Dr. Liem and other researchers had 10 redheads and 10 brunettes inhale desflurane, a common general anesthetic used before surgery. They gave the volunteers (all women) mild electric shocks and adjusted the desflurane dose until they felt no pain. Redheads needed roughly 20% higher doses. Redheads may also need more injected anesthesia and higher doses of other pain relievers, Dr. Liem says. But this remains to be studied. “From a scientific standpoint, this is the first genetic marker that affects anesthetic requirements,” he says. “It might be worth mentioning this to your physician if you are a redhead.” More from Prevention: Odd Tricks To Relieve Pain
