It’s not easy being red.
Medical research is zeroing in on what makes redheads feel pain more acutely than the rest of us, why they’re more susceptible to developing melanoma and why they have more drug allergies.
And those are just the recent studies.
It seems that every time the word “redhead” hits headlines, the news is bad. Last Tuesday was “Kick a Ginger Day,” a “South Park”-born joke that some children unfortunately use as an excuse to beat up orange-haired classmates. Researchers last year predicted the eventual extinction of redheads (the study was later discredited). And in 2011, the world’s largest sperm bank announced that, due to embarrassingly low demand, it would stop accepting redheaded donors.
“Being a redhead is being different, but [other people] don’t get it,” says the redheaded Ellen Jones, 25, whose blog, The Ginger Philes, chronicles the blues of being red. “I joke about it being a different race.”
While not designating redheads a race, medical researchers have found that, as Jones suggests, being a carrot-top really is different.
Redheads comprise just 1% to 2% of the population worldwide. Since the mid-1990s, scientists have understood that fiery tresses are caused by variants (redheaded-Americans cringe at the word “mutations”) of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene. Not until recently, though, have researchers realized that far from just influencing hair color, the MC1R gene is linked to everything from pain regulation to melanoma and Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital recently compared red-furred mice with black and albino mice and found that the red rodents were far more likely to develop melanoma than the other mice, without any exposure to sunlight or ultraviolet radiation.
“We discovered that before we could give them ultraviolet radiation, they developed melanoma. We got nervous that the lamps were emitting UV radiation when they were off and had the lab tested,” says Dr. David Fisher, lead author of the study that was published early this month in the journal Nature. “There was no UV at all. The upshot was we realized that something about being a redhead was profoundly elevating the risk of melanoma.”
Fisher adds, however, that while slathering on sunscreen might not protect redheads against melanoma, sunscreen, hats and shade will likely help gingers avoid other forms of skin cancer.
This susceptibility to UV damage does have one evolutionary purpose, Fisher says. In high latitudes, such as Ireland, the ultraviolet radiation is very weak and people live for months without much sunlight. Before the advent of supplements, sunlight was mankind’s only way to get vitamin D. By lowering the body’s protection against UV, that redheaded gene variation kept kids alive.
“In places where UV exposure is weak, you would have died in childhood of vitamin D deficiency if you had dark skin,” Fisher says.
The doctor says his research also resulted in a better understanding of a long-held association between red hair and lower pain thresholds. Fisher’s pain research has not yet been published, but a 2004 study showed that redheads require, on average, about 20% more general anesthesia than brunettes or blondes.
The following year, researchers found that redheads are more resistant to the effects of local anesthesia, such as the numbing agents used by dentists.
A paper published in the British Medical Journal last year reported findings that redheads felt pain more acutely than blondes and brunettes, probably because the MC1R mutation releases a hormone that stimulates a brain receptor associated with pain regulation. Operating-room doctors, therefore, reported approaching redheaded patients warily — even fearfully, the study’s authors wrote.
“Traditionally, surgeons and anesthesiologists regard red-haired patients with some trepidation because of their reputation for excessive bleeding, a reduced pain threshold and an, albeit anecdotal, increased tendency to develop hernias,” wrote study co-author Dr. Jonathan D. Barry of Swansea, Wales.
Barry suggested surgeons need not fear redheads, but his study did find plenty of evidence that redheads require more TLC, and much more anesthesia.
Of course, even when pain medicines do work effectively, redheads have to watch out for allergic reactions.
When the Chicago-based blogger Jones underwent knee surgery this summer, her anesthesiologist took one look at her red tresses and warned that she might be allergic to some of the more common pain killers in her arsenal.
“Apparently, redheads are allergic to everything,” Jones wrote. “And everyone’s allergic to us.”
Being the redheaded stepchildren of the world forces gingers to develop a thick skin, they say. While anti-gingerism is prevalent in the UK (the word “ginger” is considered derogatory in England), in the US, the bias is more subtle. Redheads are thought to be “hotheads,” ill-tempered and even crazy. Millionaire matchmaker Patti Stanger suggested that red hair is a red flag on the dating scene.
“I can’t get my millionaires to date a redhead,” she said last year. “The only men who like redheads are Irish.”
While Stanger’s words drew heat (she eventually apologized), Jones grudgingly agrees, saying, “Males prefer blondes or brunettes.”
When men do pursue redheads, it’s often because they are lotharios seeking to check off a literal “to-do” list, or it’s because they watched “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” too many times and now sexualize ginger women.
“It’s almost a fetish for people,” Jones says. “Some men have told me that they’re addicted to redheads and weird stuff like that.”
For the most part, Jones and other redheaded singles have found their tresses to be a liability. Redheads’ lack of desirability seemed to be confirmed last year when Cryos International, the world’s largest sperm bank, announced its red-haired sperm supply was full and woefully unrequested.
Clinic director Ole Schou told reporters, “I do not think you choose a redhead, unless the partner has red hair, or because the lone woman has a preference for redheads. And that’s perhaps not so many, especially in the latter case.”
Even Jones admits that — a crush on Prince Harry aside — she has no interest in redheaded men. “I don’t find redheaded men attractive,” she says. “They remind me of my brother.”