electric relaxation

My uncle recently suffered a heart attack and underwent double-bypass surgery at the age of 67. He’s a healthy man who jogged and played tennis regularly well into middle age. 

Meanwhile, I’ve got grandparents and relatives all over the place who’ve died of various heart diseases. Heck, even my mom has super high blood pressure.

Now this…

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-01/wtsi-thd011509.php

1% of the world’s population carries a mutation almost guaranteed to lead to heart problems and most of these come from the Indian subcontinent, where the mutation reaches a frequency of 4%.

…

The mutation, a deletion of 25 letters of genetic code from the heart protein gene MYBPC3, is virtually restricted to people from the Indian subcontinent. 

…

“We think that the mutation arose around 30,000 years ago in India, and has been able to spread because its effects usually develop only after people have had their children. A case of chance genetic drift: simply terribly bad luck for the carriers.”