Redhead Facts

Redheads, when compared to blondes or brunettes are more than twice as likely to avoid going to the dentist. The same genetic variant that explains their hair also makes them more resistant to local anesthesia, such as Novocaine and they might need as much as twenty percent more as reported in Journal of the American Dental Association.

Researchers report that, on average redheads are also more sensitive to heat and cold and three times more susceptible to skin cancer than the rest of us.

Other disorders, all backed by studies, that disproportionately affect redheads include: Parkinson’s disease, Endometriosis, and Tourette’s syndrome.

At a recent seminar on hair color and health, Scottish researcher Jonathan Rees reported that throughout history the “ginger gene” may have “played a big role” in protecting many redheads from rickets (soft, weak bones triggered by vitamin D deficiency).

Unlike blondes and brunettes, their natural red hair retains its original color longer than any other hair color, although eventually it tends to turn blond, and ultimately white. On average, redheads have thicker hair, but fewer strands (about 90,000), compared to blondes (110,000) or brunettes (140,000).

The world’s highest rate of redheads is found in Scotland, where an estimated 13 percent of Scots, about 650,000 people have red hair compared to 4 percent of Europeans and less than 2 percent of the global population, according to STV News. In the US, there are an estimated 6 million redheads. Unrelated hairy fact - The leaders of Russia have been alternately bald then hairy since 1881 through the first Putin leadership.