Question for redheads/moms of redheads - Page 3

[Bethla]

Great thread!

My middle son is a little strawberry with the palest, most translucent skin. He sort of glows! And pale blue eyes. He breaks out in big hives every so often. Not sure from what! I was so shocked when he was born with red hair. I never expected a redhead!

More links please!~

Where does red hair originate? Among the Irish only or is it seen among many other ethnic groups?

[GranoLLLy-girl]

Let's see---
I have red hair. Born with black hair that fell out, and was replaced by white blonde hair. Then by 7th grade it was strawberry blonde that turned to red by high school.
Husband was adopted, so don't know how he factors in--but his biological mom was straight from Ireland (again, don't know if that factors).
My dd has brown hair with red highlights--some say it's red in the sun.
My ds has copper hair. Bright copper!
He has green eyes, very fair skin--dd has brown eyes and skin is more olive.
I tan nicely, but have lots of freckles and green eyes.
I am right handed. Who knows what ds will be.
My mom, who has brown hair is left handed--maybe there is some kind of connection there?

I had an emergency c-sec with dd and almost bled to death. It was just lovely.

No one has allergies other than seasonal--but dd and ds weren't tolerant of dairy when I nursed them, so I went dairy-free and have been that way ever since.

Hope this jumble of information is helpful to you.

[*Lisa*]

I have red hair (with brown eyes). I don't have any allergies that I know of, but I do burn very easily. I don't know about bleeding--I don't know that I'm a heavy bleeder, but I don't have anything to compare myself to, kwim?

My brother, my two nieces and one nephew also have red hair, and they have no known allergies.

[Periwinkle]

Originally Posted by amybw

I have heard before that redheads are often anemic.

Holy CR@P!!! OK I am reading this thread just shocked. I am borderline anemic too.

[Periwinkle]

Originally Posted by Bethla

Where does red hair originate? Among the Irish only or is it seen among many other ethnic groups?

Interesting Q. I have hardly any Irish in me (but it's there... just waaaaay back)... mostly Dutch and English. Aw heck.. all those No. European clans were the same at one point weren't they?!

[Ravin]

I took a class last semester on human variation (a physical anthropology class). The way it was explained to me, red hair may be caused by several different mutations at different genes. What they all have in common is that they result in the redhead not producing black/brown melanin, only red/yellow. Which means they DO NOT tan, and are in some ways even more susceptible to sun damage than albinos, because in the absence of the protective brown/black melanin, the red/yellow kind can produce free radicals when exposed to UV, resulting in excerbated damage.

I don't know any hard science on any of the other traits attributed to redheads, but I'd expect it would depend upon the particular mutation. Depending upon where in the chemical pathway it is, it could well disrupt other chemical pathways in the body besides just melanin production, maybe some to do with forming blood clots or with neurochemicals and therefore pain tolerance.

Human genetics is SO interesting...

[melaniewb]

I'm a redhead with no food allergies. I am allergic to Demerol though. I don't have bleeding/healing issues either. I actually heal very quickly.

DS is a redhead and has trouble with milk.

[Flor]

My hair is red/aburn but my eyes are brown and my skin is tan so maybe I'm not the classic redhead, and I don't burn or have allergies.

My mom is redhead with blue eyes, but my dad is mexican with dark skin, hair, eyes, as is the rest of his family so how could I have gotten this gene from both sides?

I think I must be related to some of you all! Dh is mixed white./ mexican, too, with dark hair/skin/eyes so we expected a darker baby but ds gave us a genetic surprise with his blue eyes, blond hair, and light skin!

[Artisan]

I have still been reading up on this, and found that they can actually trace the red hair gene back several thousand years to a particular clan in Scotland, and the gene disseminated from there.

[GranoLLLy-girl]

Ravin--if redheads do not tan, then how does one explain those who do?
Is it because they (we) were originally not redheads but some other hair color? I was a blonde baby.
My hair is red, not carrot red, but deep red and I freckle and I do tan. I don't get a great deep tan, but I do have tan lines--and I think they look pretty good, except for the fact that my face is just freckles...but the arms and legs--tan.
My son has copper hair--no tan there--just bright white skin and he turns pink fast, which is why he goes out with a hat just about everywhere and is only in the sun for minutes (and of course wears 45-50 all summer).
Maybe he is a "true" redhead and I am not--according to what you are saying? Interesting.

[Annabel]

My sister and I are dark haired/olive skin and my two brothers are red haired/pale skin (same parents, both with dark hair. Obviously they both carry the red haired gene)
Both my parents have woken up during surgery. I need 4 anesthetics to numb my gums when I have fillings done in my teeth.
My younger brother and I are ambidextrous, my older brother and dad right handed, my mum and sister left handed.
We all scar easily, especially with burns.
My younger brother (with the reddest hair) bleeds a LOT when cut. He is the only one in the family without allergies and asthma.
My sister and I (the dark haired ones) have sensitive skin, and are often anemic. My red haired brothers do not.
My sister and I tan, my brothers burn (that seems directly related to skin colour)
I find this thread interesting. In my family at least it would seem that the things that go with red hair would be traits that are passed along and red hair is just one of those traits, rather than the cause.

[Periwinkle]

Hmmm that's strange. I can tan ( a little). I get freckles too (especially on my forearms) but I also get a tan eventually though it usually took a bunch of sunburns to get there.

I am auburn though. Neither my mother or father has red hair. (Maybe the mailman did lol!)

[OakBerry]

I am a redhead. (strawberry blonde) I have 2 redhaired brothers but all my sisters are brunette. I have 4 redhaired cousins (all sisters). I tend to burn but will tan a little bit. I'm not as pale as some of my redhaired relatives. I have some freckles and a TON of moles. I have developed some pollen/dust type allergies since I hit my 20's, but they aren't severe. I tend to have sensitive skin and get rashes easily. I do tend to bleed heavily, with periods, and I bled alot more than the average person during delivery. Also postpartum. Strangely, I've never had an issue with anemia, even during pregnancy.
I was just reading that redheads need more anesthesia than others as well. Not sure if this is true but my dentist always has to give me extra novocaine because I can feel the drill.

Also not sure if this is connected but we have quite alot of autoimmune problems in our family, myself included.

My dh was a blazing redhead until high school, his hair began to turn browner, and now it looks just brown. Our ds has dark blonde hair with some red in it. So far no allergies, but sugar makes him act incredibly aggressive and obnoxious.

[Artisan]

Originally Posted by OakBerry

Also not sure if this is connected but we have quite alot of autoimmune problems in our family, myself included.

This is interesting... my mother has an autoimmune disease, and we also have a family history of diabetes. I wonder if allergies are part of this tendency.

[LoveChild421]

this is a really interesting thread!

ds is a redhead, MIL is a redhead, and dp has lots of red highlights in his hair and has red facial hair.

I have noticed that ds is highly allergic to dairy, he has a tendency to get skin rashes, seems to be sensitive to frangrances (baby powders, perfume) since he starts wheezing if he's exposed to them. He hasn't been in the sun very much, but has very pale, although thick and supple skin, and blue eyes.

MIL has always been anemic and had a blood transfusion when her daughter was born and then a hysterectomy for extremely heavy, almost constant periods. She said she felt them doing her hysterectomy and they didn't believe her now we know why huh? she has skin cancer from burning so many times in an attempt to tan... no allergies that we know of though.

dp is left handed, has lots of Scottish ancestry, is pale as a ghost with thin skin and blue eyes. His hair turned brown as he got older.

As far as I know no one in my family has red hair I wonder where the extra gene came from...maybe some of us carry the recessive and just have never had a baby with another recessive carrier???

[OakBerry]

Originally Posted by reader

This is interesting... my mother has an autoimmune disease, and we also have a family history of diabetes. I wonder if allergies are part of this tendency.

Reader,
I believe they are. Some theories about how autoimmune diseases start include chronic allergies (keeping the immune system chronically stressed, or indicating a deficient or over active immune system) and exposure to certain viruses.

[annakiss]

Moved to Health & Healing...

[Mirzam]

One of my DD's is a red head (darkish strawberry blond) with blue eyes but dark lashes. She has pale skin so is more sensitive to the sun. But she has no allergies that we know of, she is right handed and appears to be no more senstive to environmental chemicals than her brown haired siblings.

[Noelia430]

This thread is very interesting!
I have auburn hair, very much like Whit's. Anyway, I don't have any food allergies but I have seasonal allergies and allergies to some animals. My mom is Irish American and my dad is Cuban. I have fair skin with freckles and I can tan a little but at the same time I have to be careful about sun exposure. Oh, and I am right handed.
I don't have any redheaded children but my son ( a blonde) has food allergies.

[Altair]

I love this thread!


I have red hair and brown eyes, some medical allergies (different kinds of antibiotics), allergic to nutrasweet, lots of chemical sensitivities. i don't digest dairy or gluten well. i burn very easily (even through sunblock, in shade), but the first burn fades to a tan, then mild sun exposure after that leads to more tanning and freckles.


does anyone have more info on the autoimmune link? my mother has been severely disabled with an autoimmune disease for the past 20 years.


as for ancestry-- my family is all very dark, olive skin, dark hair and eyes. i have very dark eyes, so dark you can't see the center. the only red hair in my family is my sicilian grandmother who had some in her youth. a german grandfather's brother had some too. i am a little irish and welsh in addition to that. a scottish origin? that's interesting. ireland and wales is close enough.