Owen Phillip C.

San Luis

G4 - Our Lady of Love

Danish DNA could be key to happiness

Summary: Genetics could be the key to explaining nations levels of happiness, according
to new research. Economists have found the closer a nation is to the genetic makeup of
Denmark, the happier that country is. The research could help to solve the puzzle of why a
country like Denmark so regularly tops the world happiness rankings.

Genetics could be the key to explaining nation's levels of happiness, according to research from
the University of Warwick.

Economists at the University's Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE)
have looked at why certain countries top the world happiness rankings. In particular they have
found the closer a nation is to the genetic makeup of Denmark, the happier that country is. The
research could help to solve the puzzle of why a country like Denmark so regularly tops the
world happiness rankings.
Dr Eugenio Proto and Professor Andrew Oswald found three forms of evidence for a link
between genetic makeup and a nation's happiness.
Firstly they used data on 131 countries from a number of international surveys including the
Gallup World Poll, World Value Survey and the European Quality of Life Surveys. The
researchers linked cross-national data on genetic distance and well-being.
Dr Proto said: "The results were surprising, we found that the greater a nation's genetic distance
from Denmark, the lower the reported wellbeing of that nation. Our research adjusts for many
other influences including Gross Domestic Product, culture, religion and the strength of the
welfare state and geography.

The second form of evidence looked at existing research suggesting an association between
mental wellbeing and a mutation of the gene that influences the reuptake of serotonin, which is
believed to be linked to human mood.
Dr Proto added: "We looked at existing research which suggested that the long and short
variants of this gene are correlated with different probabilities of clinical depression, although

Owen Phillip C. San Luis

G4 - Our Lady of Love

this link is still highly debated. The short version has been associated with higher scores on
neuroticism and lower life satisfaction. Intriguingly, among the 30 nations included in the study,
it is Denmark and the Netherlands that appear to have the lowest percentage of people with this
short version."
The final form of evidence looked at whether the link between genetics and happiness also held
true across generations, continents and the Atlantic Ocean.
Professor Oswald said: "We used data on the reported wellbeing of Americans and then looked
at which part of the world their ancestors had come from. The evidence revealed that there is an
unexplained positive correlation between the happiness today of some nations and the
observed happiness of Americans whose ancestors came from these nations, even after
controlling for personal income and religion."
He added: "This study has used three kinds of evidence and, contrary to our own assumptions
when we began the project, it seems there are reasons to believe that genetic patterns may
help researchers to understand international well-being levels.
"More research in this area is now needed and economists and social scientists may need to
pay greater heed to the role of genetic variation across national populations."

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140717094828.htm

Owen Phillip C. San Luis

G4 - Our Lady of Love

Cholesterol-lowering drugs may reduce cardiovascular death in type

2 diabetes
Summary: Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death and disability among
people with Type 2 diabetes. In fact, at least 65 percent of people with diabetes die from
some form of heart disease or stroke. However, a new study suggests that the use of
cholesterol-lowering statins may help prolong the lives of people with diabetic
cardiovascular disease.

Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death and disability among people with
Type 2 diabetes. In fact, at least 65 percent of people with diabetes die from some form of heart
disease or stroke, according to the American Heart Association.
However, a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center suggests that the
use of cholesterol-lowering statins may help prolong the lives of people with diabetic
cardiovascular disease.

Although our study was not a clinical trial, it did show that people with diabetes and heart
disease can still live quite a few years by taking statins, said Don Bowden, Ph.D., professor of
biochemistry

at

Wake

Forest

Baptist

and

lead

author

of

the

study.

The research team studied data from 371 patients who had participated in the Diabetes Heart
Study. At the beginning of the study, the participants received a CT scan to determine their
levels of coronary artery calcium (CAC); a CAC score greater than 1,000 indicates an increased
risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD).
The team compared the baseline characteristics of 153 patients who died during an average 8.2
years of follow-up and 218 who survived. The researchers assumed that risk for mortality would
be consistently high among the study participants. However, 60 percent were still living after
more than eight years.

Owen Phillip C. San Luis

G4 - Our Lady of Love

The use of cholesterol-lowering statins at the baseline exam was the only modifiable risk factor
identified to be protective against mortality. The participants taking statins at the beginning of
the study had a 50 percent increase of being alive as compared to those who didnt.
Bowden said this highlights the importance of widespread prescription of cholesterol-lowering
medications among individuals with Type 2 diabetes who have existing high CVD risk, but
added that in previous studies the rates of statins prescribed for diabetic patients have been low.
These data suggest that cholesterol-lowering medications may be used less than
recommended and need to be more aggressively targeted as a critical modifiable risk factor, he
said.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140716123420.htm