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Red-Haired People's Altered Responsiveness to Pain, Analgesics, and Hypnotics : Myth or Fact?-A Narrative Review

Augustinsson, Annelie LU ; Franze, Elisabeth ; Almqvist, Martina ; Warrén Stomberg, Margareta LU ; Sjöberg, Carina LU and Jildenstål, Pether LU (2024) In Journal of Personalized Medicine 14(6). p.1-11
Abstract

Red hair has been linked to altered sensitivity to pain, analgesics, and hypnotics. This alteration may be impacted by variants in the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene, which are mainly found in redheads. The aim of this narrative review was to explore and present the current state of knowledge on red hair and its plausible associations with altered responsiveness to pain, analgesics, and hypnotics. Structured searches in the PubMed, CINAHL Complete, and Scopus electronic databases were conducted. Evidence suggests that women with red hair have an increased sensitivity to pain. Conversely, data also indicate a higher pain tolerance in homozygous carriers of MC1R variant alleles. Varied responses to analgesia have been reported, with... (More)

Red hair has been linked to altered sensitivity to pain, analgesics, and hypnotics. This alteration may be impacted by variants in the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene, which are mainly found in redheads. The aim of this narrative review was to explore and present the current state of knowledge on red hair and its plausible associations with altered responsiveness to pain, analgesics, and hypnotics. Structured searches in the PubMed, CINAHL Complete, and Scopus electronic databases were conducted. Evidence suggests that women with red hair have an increased sensitivity to pain. Conversely, data also indicate a higher pain tolerance in homozygous carriers of MC1R variant alleles. Varied responses to analgesia have been reported, with both increased analgesic responsiveness in homozygous carriers of MC1R variant alleles and less analgesia in redheads. Data indicate an increased need for hypnotics in redheads. However, failed attempts to find statistical associations between red hair and altered responsiveness to hypnotics are also evident. Even though there seems to be an association between red hair and an altered responsiveness to pain, analgesics, and/or hypnotics, the results of this narrative review are inconclusive. Further research studies with larger populations and MC1R testing are needed.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Personalized Medicine
volume
14
issue
6
article number
583
pages
1 - 11
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85196895986
  • pmid:38929804
ISSN
2075-4426
DOI
10.3390/jpm14060583
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9b989531-c77e-4b4d-b5a9-0164e7f122af
date added to LUP
2024-06-29 14:35:41
date last changed
2024-07-14 05:27:50
@article{9b989531-c77e-4b4d-b5a9-0164e7f122af,
  abstract     = {{<p>Red hair has been linked to altered sensitivity to pain, analgesics, and hypnotics. This alteration may be impacted by variants in the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene, which are mainly found in redheads. The aim of this narrative review was to explore and present the current state of knowledge on red hair and its plausible associations with altered responsiveness to pain, analgesics, and hypnotics. Structured searches in the PubMed, CINAHL Complete, and Scopus electronic databases were conducted. Evidence suggests that women with red hair have an increased sensitivity to pain. Conversely, data also indicate a higher pain tolerance in homozygous carriers of MC1R variant alleles. Varied responses to analgesia have been reported, with both increased analgesic responsiveness in homozygous carriers of MC1R variant alleles and less analgesia in redheads. Data indicate an increased need for hypnotics in redheads. However, failed attempts to find statistical associations between red hair and altered responsiveness to hypnotics are also evident. Even though there seems to be an association between red hair and an altered responsiveness to pain, analgesics, and/or hypnotics, the results of this narrative review are inconclusive. Further research studies with larger populations and MC1R testing are needed.</p>}},
  author       = {{Augustinsson, Annelie and Franze, Elisabeth and Almqvist, Martina and Warrén Stomberg, Margareta and Sjöberg, Carina and Jildenstål, Pether}},
  issn         = {{2075-4426}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{1--11}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Journal of Personalized Medicine}},
  title        = {{Red-Haired People's Altered Responsiveness to Pain, Analgesics, and Hypnotics : Myth or Fact?-A Narrative Review}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jpm14060583}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/jpm14060583}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}