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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

There has been some recent conversation on the list regarding the Amish; I 
thought this articvle might interest some

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U.S. Amish gene trait may inspire heart protection

 Fri Dec 12,

 4:46 am ET Reuters –

 An Amish horse and buggy are seen in a file photo. (Neal Lauron/Reuters) 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A rare genetic abnormality found in people in an 
insular Amish community protects them from heart disease, a discovery that 
could lead to new drugs to prevent heart ailments, U.S. researchers said on 
Thursday.

About 5 percent of Old Order Amish people in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County 
have only one working copy rather than the normal two of a gene that makes a 
protein that slows the breakdown of triglycerides, a type of fat that 
circulates in the blood, the researchers wrote in the journal Science.

"People who have the mutation all have low triglycerides," said Toni Pollin 
of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, who led the 
study.

"This gives us clues that ultimately could develop future treatments."

Triglycerides naturally disappear more quickly in these people than in people 
without this gene mutation.

High triglyceride levels, often due to a high-fat diet, can contribute to 
hardening and narrowing of the arteries, raising the risk of heart attack, 
heart disease and stroke.

New drugs might target this gene, called APOC3, to decrease the amount of the 
protein it produces, Pollin said in an interview.

Pollin and colleagues looked at the genes of about 800 Amish people, finding 
that about one in 20 had the mutation, and they also had lower triglycerides 
and less risk of cardiovascular disease.

They also had high levels of HDL-cholesterol, the so-called good cholesterol, 
and low levels of LDL-cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol.

Having only one working copy of APOC3 left people with half the normal level 
of the protein the gene makes.

"The Old Order Amish are ideal for genetic research because they are a 
genetically homogenous people who trace their ancestry back 14 generations to 
a small group that came to Pennsylvania from Europe in the mid-1700s," Dr. 
Alan Shuldiner, one of the researchers, said in a statement.

Since then, the devoutly Christian Amish have largely kept to themselves in 
close-knit farming communities, typically marrying other Amish people. Amish 
communities also are found in Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere.

The researchers believe this genetic mutation was introduced into the 
Lancaster Amish population by a person born in the mid-1700s, and the trait 
seems to be very rare or completely absent in the general population.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081212/hl_nm/us_heart_gene