Posted on 12/12/2008 1:18:15 PM PST by metmom
WASHINGTON 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
ping
No cure like manual work and not sitting on your ass watching TV.
TV? What’s a TV?
There’s a clue.....
I read of a study that had been done about the incidence of Type II Diabetes in the Amish communities and the one comment that stuck out was that the author said that you NEVER find a fat Amish child, ever.
And they don’t “retire.” They work until they die.
GH?
ROFLTMTO,,,you are right on, and the fact they raise and can their own food WITHOUT PRESERVATIVES and CHEMICALS. Gene my rear end. It’s the lifestyle. My grandparents and great grandparents did the same thing, and honored their parents too, as the Amish do and most lived to be almost a 100 back then when diseases were not easily treated. sheesh.
ALSO, the Bible says “honor thy father and mother that thy days may be long upon the earth”....
IT DOES NOT SAY “watch your triglycerides and cholestrol and you will live long.”..
Growth Hormones.
Peter (Jay) is negotiating with the "Blood and Pi** Guy" to get drug-free blood and urine for a drug-addled actor he has just taken out of a Rehab center to star in his movie...
BAPG: "Don't worry. Your boy's gonna get the cleanest blood you can get."
Peter: "Wha-... what kind of blood is that?"
BAPG: "Amish."
Peter: "Amish? How do you get Amish blood?"
BAPG (coldly): "Traps."
It's friday, have some silly fun.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with Adventures, mysteries and comedies.
If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped Talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.
Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)
Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular Basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished.
He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.
I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?.... .. .
We just call him 'TV.' "
And of that manual labor probably includes growing their own vegetables and meat and dairy.
Aren't they pretty much a self sustaining community? If so, their lifestyle has to be a HUGE factor.
Nothing better than home-cooked veggies, home grown meat or poultry, eggs and milk, butter, cheese, bread. No damn additives too. But damn hard and rewarding work.
Gotcha....
Well, my triglycerides are really low (62) and my HDL is high, but my LDL calculates high as well. So my dr wants me on statins even though ALL my other risk factors put me in the normal to negative risk factor category.
I’d rather not, really. I’ve looked into it some but still need to see if it’s worth the risk of going on statins.
I was in an Amish market not too long ago near Lancaster. I've seen a few heavy girls, but you are right for the most part.
I bought a homemade blueberry pie and a shoo-fly pie. I'm the one getting fat...
thanks, bfl
What’s your Triglyceride/HDL ratio? It should be <5. I have had the VAP test ( a newer type cholesterol check that tests a bit more....and I have “Pattern B, small dense LDL - which is NOT good....but, I have great HDL and total cholesterol....I’d get a 2nd opinion before I took statins...JMHO.
Couldn’t believe Fox messed up a word in their title but then realized they were forwarding a Reuters essay:
American is: Preventive
British is: PrevenTAtive
Triglyceride/HDL = .95
Less than one....
FYI
Well, my triglycerides are really low (62) and my HDL is high, but my LDL calculates high as well. So my dr wants me on statins even though ALL my other risk factors put me in the normal to negative risk factor category.
Id rather not, really. Ive looked into it some but still need to see if its worth the risk of going on statins.
I dont understand anything you just said there but I do know one thing. Cholesterol tastes good.
Thanks for that info. I will certainly look into it further.
In googling high HDL, high LDL, and low triglycerides, I saw mention of the LDLa and LDLb.
The articles I found indicated that LDLa is the harmless kind associated with high HDL and low triglycerides.
If that’s the case, I see no need to go on statins.
I believe that is the key. Plowing the south 40 is more helpful for your heart than denying yourself carbohydrates. Besides the Amish eat a lot of carbs.
They start working on the farms at an early age and walk to school or use scooters
I bike (pedal type )in Lancaster county Amish country about 15-20 times a year since 1985
I have NEVER seen a FAT Amish kid
It is the HDL/TRI ratio that is critical NOT LDLs
Since yours is good stay AWAY from the statins
My wife has longevity in her family —She is now 73 her LDLS are high but her HDLs and TRIs are great
Doc tried to get her to go on statins over 10 years ago
She told him NO WAY
It's the hats. Those cool hats. And the hot chicks.
“I bought a homemade blueberry pie and a shoo-fly pie.”
STOP IT !! I am an insulin dependent diabetic and you’re driving me crazy!!
When God wants to call you home, He will. No matter what you eat or don’t eat, no matter how much you exercise or don’t, no matter what your genes say.
Eating olive oil is guaranteed to make you live longer.
I bought a homemade blueberry pie and a shoo-fly pie. I’m the one getting fat...
Oh Man love that Shoo-FLy Pie have to get back up to PA again soon.
I bought a homemade blueberry pie and a shoo-fly pie. I’m the one getting fat...
Oh Man love that Shoo-FLy Pie have to get back up to PA again soon.
Two centuries of intermarrying with close-ish relatives.

"You mean that plowing hot chicks would be good for muh heart? I need to move my office to Amish country..."
Thank you. Comment# 32 has a link to the a link to the abstract.
The title of this is a joke; they don’t use drugs; that’s the reason for their health.
My grandmother lived to be 95 or so. She was overweight and I can only imagine what her cholesterol readings were.
I don’t think that my insurance will cover a consultation with the dr to just discuss the topic but I certainly will look into this other test the other FReeper mentioned next time I’m in for a cold or stitches on a sliced up finger :)
*sigh*. I have food allergy issues and some other food reactions, and can’t eat most any fruits or vegetables.
I hear you.
My ratio (LDL/Tot Chol) is really low too....but, I still have the small pattern B LDL...I think you might want to look into VLDL .....hope that helps.....I was told to keep exercising....and drinking red wine and eating chocolate....LOL....evidently they are good for LDL
I tried fish oil and didn’t feel good when I took it. I tried Evening Primrose Oil and think I reacted to it but it could have been something else.
At this point, I’m wary of taking anything out of the ordinary for me. I’ve yet to figure out what my reactions are, if they are indeed allergic. If they’re not, I have no clue and the doctors have not been much help.
But I don’t fancy any trips to the ER for anaphylactic shock. And even if the reactions aren’t that bad, I feel so crappy for a couple days, that it’s almost not worth the risk.
What’s VLDL? I’ve seen that mentioned.
RE: VLDL...here’s what Mayo Clinic says about it...I noted what they said about alcohol intake, too....whatever...different docs....HA.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vldl-cholesterol/AN01335/
I lowered my bad stuff greatly with flax seed capsules. Didn’t go anything for my tris though
Thanks. My BP is fine, I’m not diabetic.
I’ve had liver function tests and thyroid tests and everything comes back normal. The ONLY thing I have is high LDL. It doesn’t make much sense to have high LDL, high, HDL, low TG, and no other health issues.
That’s what really makes me wonder exactly what kind of risk factors I really have.
And besides, if the cholesterol doesn’t get me, a bus could.
I’ll look into that. I’ll see if I can get the flax seed itself and try little bits at a time to see if it bothers me.
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