| Missing link in hunt for long life without disease |
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| Krankheiten - Laron syndrome |
| Geschrieben von: http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com |
| Freitag, den 16. September 2011 um 19:15 Uhr |
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THEY are much smaller than average, less than three and a half feet tall, and have a rare condition called Laron syndrome. They are probably the descendants of conversos, Sephardic Jews from Iberia forced to convert to Christianity in the 1490s but still driven out by the Inquisition.
Living in a remote Ecuadorean community, they are also almost free of two age-related diseases, cancer and diabetes. Now biologists believe they may throw light on longevity and ways to increase it.
The group of 99 villagers with Laron syndrome - a type of dwarfism - has been studied by Dr Jaime Guevara-Aguirre, an Ecuadorean physician and diabetes specialist. He discovered them when travelling on horseback to a roadless mountain village. Most such villages are inhabited by native people, but these were Europeans, with Spanish surnames typical of conversos. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/world/Missing-link-in-hunt-for.6721159.jp |
