Friday, October 30, 2009
Red Head!!
So, G-man is obviously a red head. Earlier this week I was chatting with a family friend who is a doctor and she mentioned that little G may be more sensitive to pain due to his red head gene. We chatted some more and then, instead of getting sleep, I stayed awake until 1am researching this gene. Turns out she was only telling me part of the story! Only 2% of the world population has natural red hair (I am one of the unnatural ones, so I don’t count!) Red hair appears in people with two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a change in the MC1R protein. It is associated with fair skin color, freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light, as the mutated MC1R protein is found in the skin and eyes instead of the darker melanin. MC1R is short of melanocortin-1 receptor. At least 80% of red heads have this genetic mutation. It makes them more susceptible to pain, and less receptive to anesthesias! Yes, they are more prone to wake up during surgical procedures. Yikes! I am glad that we are aware of this. It’s one of those “file that info away” things. If you are a red head, how would you rate your pain tolerance? Have you had surgery, and how did the whole anesthesia –thing turn out?
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3 comments:
my redhead is a real whiner about pain, especially in his mouth. He seems prone to canker sores lately and he is nearly unbearable when he gets one. He has not had any anesthesia yet, so we don't know how he does with that, but he has made a progression lately that he cries less when he hurts himself. He does, however, dwell on the pain after the fact.
I have no idea if that helps, but that's our experience :)
I've always thought I had a high pain tolerance, so I was surprised to hear your discovery. I've had two surgeries in my life and had no problems with waking up in the middle. ?? My dad, mom, and bro all have red hair and haven't had those problems either...
My red hair isn't as red as G-Man's, but during my first child's birth (as the c/s was starting) I began to panic because I could feel as they started the incision...the Dr ended up putting me under general anesthesia after that...he'd been with me all day and I had had a heckuva time. Afterwards he said it was because I am a redhead. I'd never heard it before, but have since since conflicting studies about it over the years.
Amy Denzer
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