New Research Reveals Redheads May Have Different Pain Thresholds

Redheads have a genetic mutation which means their melanocytes have a faulty version of a key receptor and therefore can not make dark pigment to get a tan. But a knock-on effect of this is a chemical imbalance leading to a cascade of different hormones which ultimately enhances the effect of pain-blocking receptors (stock)  

Daily Mail: Redheads have a higher PAIN threshold than blondes or brunettes because their skin's pigment-producing cells lack the function of a certain receptor, study reveals 

* Redheads have a faulty receptor on skin pigment cells that stops them tanning 

* But also has a hormonal knock-on effect which results in elevated pain threshold 

* The end result is that gingers produce more opioid signals than people with other hair colours and complections and have an elevated pain threshold Ginger people can tolerate more pain than brunettes and blondes, and a new study has found out why this is. 

It found that the skin cells that determine a person's pigmentation, called melanocytes, are pivotal in deciding a person's pain threshold. Redheads have a genetic mutation which means their melanocytes have a faulty version of a key receptor and therefore cannot make dark pigment to get a tan.  

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Update #1: Redheads May Have Different Pain Thresholds – New Research Reveals Why (SciTechDaily)  

Update #2: Why redheads feel less pain, according to scientists (NYPost)  

CSN Editor: The connection between skin pigmentation and pain is a surprise.

'Pain Gene' Discovery Could Lead To Less Suffering

From The Telegraph:

The reason some people can feel more pain than others may have been explained by scientists.

Docors have struggled to explain why some people are more sensitive to and less able to tolerate pain.

Now scientists have discovered that a gene may be responsible.

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Pain Pills Could Ease Hurt Feelings

From Live Science:

Getting the snub from friends can feel like a slap in the face. Now researchers say treating such social pain may be as easy as popping a pain pill. They warn, however, that more research is needed before anyone tries the approach.

The finding builds on research showing that psychological blows not only feel like they hurt us, they actually do. For instance, scientists have found a gene linked with both physical pain and a person's sensitivity to rejection. And some of the same brain regions are linked with both pain types.

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Just Thinking of a Loved One Can Reduce Physical Pain

From Live Science:

They say love hurts. But it can also make people feel better.

In an offbeat study, researchers applied "moderately painful heat stimuli" to the forearms of 25 women while each held the hand of her boyfriend, the hand of a male stranger, or squeezed a ball. The women reported less pain when holding their boyfriends' hands.

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Texting A Pain In The Neck, Study Suggests

From Live Science:

Texting long messages can be a pain in the neck — literally.

The repetitive action of working your fingers across the number pad of your cell phone can cause some of the same chronic pain problems previously confined to those who'd spent a lifetime typing, a new study suggests.

The possible connection is particularly worrying given how much teens and young adults — and increasingly those in professional settings — are texting nowadays, said Judith Gold of Temple University in Philadelphia, who carried out one of the first studies on the potential connection.

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Widespread Chronic Pain

From Future Pundit:

John Tierney of the New York Times draws attention to the high prevalence of chronic pain.

Chronic pain affects more than 70 million Americans, which makes it more widespread than heart disease, cancer and diabetes combined. It costs the economy more than $100 billion per year. So why don’t more doctors and researchers take it seriously?

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