Studies have shown that a person’s eye color can determine how much pain they can tolerate. What gives? Well, it seems that the genes responsible for your eye color can also impact the pain your body feels.
To show this, a study was performed and presented at the 2014 American Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting. The study involved 58 healthy, pregnant women. Twenty four of the women had dark eyes, while the remaining 34 women had light eyes.
Results of the study showed that the women with dark eyes experienced more pain and anxiety giving birth than the lighter-eyed women. Also, the darker eyed women were more prone to postpartum depression.
It seems our eye color is made up of a variation of 12 to 13 genes. These genes do different things in our bodies. Some researches believe that one of the genes is linked to melanin, which may strongly influence pain experience. Melanin is a pigment found in the brain that is linked to darker eyes.
The finding of this study are still developing, but with more research, they may be able to help doctors better know who is going to feel more pain after standard surgery, or who may develop chronic pain. Knowing a patient’s pain tolerance can significantly help doctors with treatment.
We’ll keep you posted with any developments in this fascinating research.
-The Alternative Daily