The conventional wisdom is that women can tolerate pain better than men since women endure intense pain during childbirth.

HA! Wrong again. Men, in fact, have a much higher tolerance for pain and Gary Rollman, at the University of Western Ontario thinks he has found out why. It is a protein present in men called GIRK2 that inhibits pain sensations being transmitted to the brain. Removing this protein makes men as susceptible to pain as women.

On a less flippant note, this has important implications for pain management in women. Many pain killers work, in part, by activating GIRK2 protein. Researchers believe more research in this area may lead to new drugs or dose levels specifically designed to ease pain in women. You can read more about it in New Scientist here.