麻醉师在手术台上看到风情万种的红发女郎，不得不先问一句：“染过发吗？”因为，红头发的人更怕疼......

　　Redheads may actually have another trait that makes them stand out--sensitivity to pain, specialists reported.

　　专家们说，红头发的人也许还有一个使他们卓然于群的特征——敏锐的痛感

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　　People with natural red hair need about 20 percent more anesthesia than people with other hair colors, they told a meeting of anesthesiologists. The unexpected finding not only suggests that redheads are more sensitive to pain, but offers insights into how anesthesia works in people.

　　他们在一次麻醉学专家会议上说，天然红发的人需要的麻醉剂量要比其他发色的人多20%。这一意外发现不仅意味着红头发的人对痛楚更敏感，而且让人们对麻醉剂对人的作用有了更多的了解。

　　"Red hair is the first visible human trait, or phenotype, that is linked to anesthetic requirement," Dr. Edwin Liem of the University of Louisville in Kentucky said in a statement. "In a nutshell(简单地说，简而言之), redheads are likely to experience more pain from a given stimulus and therefore require more anesthesia to alleviate that pain." Liem said the finding is important news for specialists who monitor patients during surgery. "The art and science of anesthesiology is choosing the right dose," he said. "There is very little difference between the effective dose and the toxic dose of most anesthetics. Patients can awaken during surgery if they are given insufficient anesthesia or suffer cardiac and pulmonary complications when they are given too much."

　　“红发是第一个与麻醉剂量发生关联的可见人体特性或称显型，”肯塔基州路易斯维尔大学的埃德温·列姆博士在报告中说。“简单地说，在给定的刺激条件下，红头发的人会有更强的痛感，因此需要更多的麻醉剂来减轻痛苦。”列姆认为这一发现对负责在手术过程中监控患者状况的专科医生来说十分重要。“麻醉学的奥妙在于选择合适的剂量，”他说。“大多数麻醉剂的有效剂量和中毒剂量之间只有细微的差别。如果剂量不足，患者会在手术过程中醒来，而过多的麻醉剂会引起心肺并发症。”

　　Scientists do not fully understand how anesthesia works, but the findings offers clues, as people with red hair have a certain genetic variant.

　　科学家们还不完全了解麻醉剂的作用机理，而这一发现为此提供了线索，因为红头发的人具有一种特定的遗传性变型。