Feeling Red

Robert Redford

LA Clipper owner Donald Sterling has been in the news recently, having made a series of idiotic racially insensitive remarks, leading him to being banned for life from the NBA and potentially losing his franchise.  Today, Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban is now in somewhat hot water over some race related comments he made. So, I hesitate to bring attention to any particular group, but…….I read something recently in National Geographic that has prompted a few comments.

For what it’s worth:

Many years ago during my training as a Resident Podiatrist at VA Wadsworth in LA, I received some practice management advice from one of my mentors, Dr. Al Dana. He advised us to NEVER perform surgery on redheaded women. We got a kick out this comment and gave it a good laugh, but Dr. Dana was not amused! He was as serious as a heart attack.  (Which actually killed him a few years later) As the years have gone by, it has been my observation that redheaded patients (not just women) present with different challenges. Dr. Dana’s advice has proven to be very wise. However, it has been my obligation to happily provide appropriate care to ALL patients I see, regardless of hair color. But, unbeknownst to Dr. Dana, there is scientific basis to his opinion. Check this out:

Most redheads experience pain differently than the rest of us. Their hair color is caused by a mutation in the skin’s melanocortin-1 receptor gene, which may “inadvertently activate” similar receptors in the brain that process anxiety and pain, says Anthony G. Doufas of the Outcomes Research Consortium of clinical anesthesiologists. Anecdotal evidence long held that redheads were harder to anesthetize. The consortium tested this theory and found that redheads required 19% more gas for general anesthesia. They’re also more sensitive to thermal pain and more resistant to local anesthesia. No wonder the Journal of the American Dental Association reports redheads are “more than twice as likely” to avoid the dental chair....National Geographic June 2014.

No matter who you are, there is something special about you.That is what makes the world interesting.

Some famous redheads:

Winston Churchill

U.S. Grant

David Caruso

Thomas Jefferson

Judy Garland

Lindsay Lohan

Andrew Jackson

George Washington

Vincent Van Gogh

William Tecumseh Sherman

Bill Walton

Mark McGwire

Brigham Young

Susan Sarandon

Bonnie Raitt

Christopher Columbus

Willie Nelson

Other famous redheads:

Calvin Coolidge                           
Dwight Eisenhower                             
Esau                                            
Genghis Khan                               
Mark Twain                                      
Muhammad
Rameses II                                   
Richard the Lionheart                        
William Clark (The Explorer)    

Note: Lucille Ball was NOT a natural redhead

Final note: One of my most favorite people in the world, Guy Masters, is a redhead.

Guy Masters