Medical research can take the oddest turns in the struggle to develop new drugs, treatments and the causes of certain diseases. Recently, a clinic in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has conducted a seemingly peculiar study.

Basically, 809 members of the Old Order Amish community were invited to go to the clinic in Lancaster and drink a milkshake made predominantly of heavy cream. The purpose of the study was to investigate several aspects of heart disease. Over the six hours following the ingurgitation of said milkshake, a research group took blood from the Amish participants to the study, in an attempt to assess how much fat was passing through their bloodstream.

In the case of most of the participants to the study, the results were not surprising – the level of triglycerides, which is a common form of fat found in the bloodstream, rose for a period of three to four hours, and afterwards entered a natural decline.

However, there was a different effect in about 5% of the cases: the triglycerides started at a low level and barely elevated.

The conclusion of the study was published in the Friday issue of the journal “Science”. The researchers have concluded that the individuals whose triglycerides were barely influenced have a mutation that disables one of their two copies of a gene called apoC-III.

Because of this mutated gene, the organisms of some people manage to break down the fat at a much faster pace. These people were also discovered to have very low levels of LDL cholesterol, which raises the risk of heart disease if it levels are high, Moreover, these people also have high levels of HDL cholesterol, which is usually linked to low risk of heart disease.