ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. and European scientists say although human genes contribute to a person's health and behavior, a type-A personality isn't linked with heart disease.
The international study found absolutely no connection between a hard-driving personality and heart disease, contrary to previous studies and conventional wisdom.
That was among the first findings of a 10-year effort to measure the genes and traits of a single population of closely related people. Conducted jointly by Italian and Sardinian researchers, the U.S. National Institute on Aging and bio-statisticians at the University of Michigan, the project involved 6,148 people aged 14 to 102 on the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea.
Sardinia was chosen for the genetic studies because of its isolation and relative stability, said Goncalo Abecasis, associate professor of biostatistics in the Michigan School of Public Health. He and Michigan post-doctoral fellow Wei-Min Chen led statistical analysis on the project.
The study promises to be a very rich source of new genetic insights, said co-author David Schlessinger of the National Institutes on Aging in Baltimore.
The research appears in the Public Library of Science.
