UK doctors confirm woman's superhero-like immunity to pain

A British woman who doesn't feel pain has amazed doctors with her rare genetic mutation, something that would not be out of place in a superhero movie.

Seventy-one-year-old Jo Cameron only realized she has the condition six years ago, after developing chronic arthritis in her hip and seeking the advice of a doctor. He could not believe the retired schoolteacher from near Inverness in Scotland had developed such a severe limp without feeling the pain that would ordinarily accompany such serious bone damage.

Cameron told the Guardian newspaper she had experienced broken limbs, cuts, burns, and childbirth during her life, all without feeling pain, but had always assumed she had been lucky and had not been hurt too badly.

But things came to a head when Cameron went for surgery on her hand and refused painkillers while recovering.

"We had banter before theater when I guaranteed I wouldn't need painkillers," she told BBC Scotland. "When (the doctor) found I hadn't had any, he checked my medical history and found I had never asked for painkillers."

After that, she was sent to see geneticists at University College London and Oxford University who identified her as one of only two people globally who are known not to feel pain.

But while her mutation might sound like a superpower to many people, it has frequently led to her damaging herself. She says that when she burns herself on her cooking range at home, she only realizes she has done so when she smells burning flesh.

"Pain is there for a reason," she told the broadcaster. "It warns you. You hear alarm bells.It would be nice to have a warning when something's wrong. I didn't know my hip was gone until it was really gone, I physically couldn't walk with my arthritis."

Cameron's case is described in Thursday's edition of the British Journal of Anaesthesia by doctors Devjit Srivastava and James Cox, who hope her genetic mutation will help in the development of new types of medication for pain relief.

"People with rare insensitivity to pain can be valuable to medical research as we learn how their genetic mutations impact how they experience pain," Cox said. "So, we would encourage anyone who does not experience pain to come forward."

The doctors said Cameron also appears to heal more quickly than normal people and has an extra gene that means that, in addition to not feeling pain, she is immune to fear, panic, or anxiety.

Cameron said: "It's called the happy gene or forgetful gene. I have been annoying people by being happy and forgetful all my life: I've got an excuse now."

She told Sky News she would be delighted if research into her genetics ends up helping "people who are suffering".