How red hair affects your health

According to a recent article from Peace FM Online, red heads have a higher risk of suffering several medical and emotional issues, and this is all down to the same genetic factors that make our hair red.

Anxious Red Heads

Reds are often more anxious than other colors. That’s because the same genetic factors that control melanin production (the DNA that gives hair its color) also affect how your body manages stress.

“The genes responsible for the ability to produce anti-stress hormones live close to melanocortin-1 receptors,” says Margaret Lewin, M.D., a New York internist.

And sometimes the gene mutation that causes red hair can lead the anti-stress genes astray, too, and cause faulty production of anxiety-reducing hormones like pregnenolone. “The decreased production of anti-stress hormones leaves a redhead more likely to be stressed out,” Lewin says.

Red Heads Feel More Pain

Redheads may require up to 20% more local anesthesia (Novocain or other, similar pain-numbing drugs) than other colors, says the study’s lead researcher, Cleveland Clinic anesthesiologist Daniel Sessler, M.D.

That’s because redheads’ melanocortin-1 receptors (the DNA responsible for hair color) are malfunctioning. In fact, red hair itself is the result of a gene mutation.

Red Heads With Parkinsons

Redheads have nearly a 50% greater chance of developing Parkinson's than people with other hair colors, according to a 2009 Harvard Medical School study. People with black hair have the lowest chance, followed by brunettes, then blondes, researchers found.

The gene responsible for fiery hair hues is headquartered close to a gene that, if mutated, can increase the risk for Parkinson's disease. And proximity can be all it takes to make one gene affect another.

Source: How Hair Color Affects Your Health