The research of the Tsimane Health and Life History Project, co-founded and directed by Broom Research Associate Michael Gurven, was recently featured in the New York Times.  The Tsimane of northern Bolivia still live in small communities and remain relatively isolated from the outside world. More than 50 Bolivian and American researchers, doctors and students have participated in the health project, generating an array of landmark studies. The population of 13,000, which stretches along the Maniqui River, has become the scientific community’s 21st-century “traditional man.”

Research on the Tsimane led to the finding in 2009 that cardiovascular disease is probably an illness of modern societies. Studies of the group also provided the most conclusive data supporting the idea that high levels of physical activity drastically reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity and hypertension. Ongoing Tsimane research explores links between testosterone and infection, diet and the nutritional value of breast milk, and DNA and life span.

For more information, please see the Times article at: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/health/in-the-bolivian-amazon-a-yards…