Ha! I always knew redheads were better!


Carrot tops tough it out
By Fiona Macrae
11-08-2005
From: The Daily Telegraph

IF your hair is the colour of a carrot, you may get a lot of smart remarks. But when the going gets tough, those ginger locks could put you head and shoulders above the rest.
Research has revealed redheads cope with pain better than blondes and brunettes.
Scientists found the gene responsible for flame-coloured hair gives what amounts to a built-in anaesthetic.
It could help explain the strength of character of famous redheads through the ages from Cleopatra and George Washington to Napoleon, General Custer and Winston Churchill.
Being tougher than the rest may also have helped former princess Sarah Ferguson, actress Nicole Kidman and singer Van Morrison rise to the top.
The hair colour gene produces a protein that is pivotal when it comes to feeling pain. In blondes and brunettes, it produces more of the protein, so they feel pain more keenly.
Redheads have a variant of the gene which does not release as much of this protein, enabling them to deal better with pain.
Scientists hope unlocking the secrets of this gene will lead to new anaesthetics and painkillers for the chronically ill.
It could also provide important information about skin cancer.
Redheads, however, believe there is a simpler explanation for their toughness. Simon Cheetham, of the Red and Proud support group, said: "We've had to be tough from Day One. Being ridiculed from childhood moulds the character."
Other research has also shown redheads fight off diseases more efficiently than blondes or brunettes.