Whether or not blondes have more fun is still up for debate, but the color of your hair can actually tell you a fair amount about yourself—and your health. We're talking natural hair color, by the way, not the color listed on the bottle (no judgment!). That specific natural hue is determined by genes passed your way from your parents, although scientists haven't exactly pinned down the equation that resulted in your specific shade of chocolate brown or strawberry blonde strands. Genetic mystery aside, here are a few things science does know about what your hair color says about you. YOUR HAIR COLOR CAN PREDICT YOUR SKIN CANCER RISK. Your hair color can predict your skin cancer risk. Redheads make up only about 1 to 2% of the population worldwide, yet 16% of melanoma patients have red hair. A July 2016 study published in Nature Communications is getting closer to figuring out why. The researchers discovered that a specific gene variation that's linked to having red hair (and freckles, too) seems to lead to a 42% faster rate of developing skin cancer–causing genetic mutations. That's like having had an extra 21 years of sun exposure, the researchers estimate. And your sensitivity to pain. And your sensitivity to pain. Redheads are also unlucky when it comes to pain. A 2009 Journal of the American Dental Association study found that they were more likely to fear the dentist. Turns out, a genetic variation linked to red hair seems to make redheads resistant to certain anesthetics, meaning they were more likely to have had a painful dental experience in the past. Redheads often also need higher doses of anesthesia to numb pain, possibly because the gene variation leads to changes in how they metabolize the drugs. It may pose a risk to your vision. It may pose a risk to your vision. As we age, many of us will slowly start to lose some of our vision in a pattern called age-related macular degeneration. With AMD, vision typically starts to blur in the center, with the blur then moving outward. It's most likely to develop after age 60, and smoking doubles a person's risk of AMD. But hair color also seems to play a role. People with blond or red hair who also had medium or high sun exposure during their teenage years (more than 2 hours outside a day during the summer) were more likely to develop AMD, compared with those who had low sun exposure (categorized as less than 2 hours outside a day during the summer), according to 2014 study published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. The study found no increase in AMD risk among people with darker hair. It may increase your risk of Parkinson's disease. It may increase your risk of Parkinson's disease. Sorry again, redheads. A 2009 study published in the Annals of Neurologyfound a higher risk of Parkinson's disease among red-haired folks than those with black hair, particularly among people who developed the disease before hitting 70 years old. While the exact reason isn't totally understood, the researchers hypothesized that melanin, which gives hair and skin its pigment, might bind to toxins and protect darker-haired people from the degenerative disease. Source
