Stoccareddo

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Stoccareddo

Location of in Italy
Country	Italy
Region	Veneto
Province	Vincenza


Elevation	981 m (3,219 ft)^[1]
Population
- Total	400^[2]
- Density	[n/a]
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	45.8667° N 11.6000° ECoordinates: 45.8667° N 11.6000° E
Gentilic
Dialing code	(+39) 0424
Postal code	36032

Patron	San Bartolomeo

Website: http://www.stoccareddo.it/

Stoccareddo is a village in the comune of Gallio, Province of Vicenza, Italy. It is known for its 400 villagers (380 of them with the surname Baù) with great health who tend to be able to consume fatty foods without the consequences of strokes and heart attacks. Informally, Stoccareddo is known as "Il paese dei Baù", meaning "The Country of the Baù".^[3]

1 History and geography
2 Health phenomenon
3 Inbreeding
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History and geography

Stoccareddo is a secluded village in the Italian Alps that was, until the late 20th century, very isolated.^[4] Stoccareddo was first inhabited by a Danish family by the surname Baù about 800 years ago.^[2] It was destroyed during World War I, but was rebuilt during the early 1920s by its citizens. Because of its location, the villagers, mainly Baùs, were not able to mingle with any outside citizens. The continuous centuries of seclusion created a gene pool of Baùs that had good health.^[4]

[edit] Health phenomenon

Almost all of Stoccareddo's villagers have the surname Baù (bow-ˈooh),^[2] and are all from the same family. Most of Stoccareddo's villagers have phenomenally good health, despite their diet of fried cheeses and other unhealthy Italian delicacies.^[4] According to The Independent, 38% of Stoccareddo's men have high cholesterol, as opposed to the Italian average of 21%.^[5] However, about 23% of Italian men have low levels of HDL (good cholesterol) as opposed to 5.4% of men in Stoccareddo.^[5] Also, hypertension (high blood pressure) affects about 33% of Italian men, but only 6.5% of Stoccareddo men.

Geneticist Uros Hladnik has stated that "there is not a single case of genetic disease to be found among the Baus."^[5]

[edit] Inbreeding

The villagers of Stoccareddo are prominent for inbreeding. Although many Baùs have children with other Baùs, they tend to marry more distant relatives and not first cousins, which can cause genetic defects.^[2] There is a local saying, "Only a Baù can understand a Baù."^[5] Their inbreeding over a period of over eight centuries is likely to be the reason why many citizens of Stoccareddo are so healthy, despite their unhealthy diet.