Limone sul Garda
Encyclopedia
Limone sul Garda is a town and comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Brescia
Province of Brescia
The Province of Brescia is a Province in Lombardy, Italy. It borders with the province of Sondrio in the N and NW, the province of Bergamo in the W, province of Cremona in the SW and S, the province of Mantova to the S, and to the east, the province of Verona and Trentino .Source for statistical...

, in Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

 (northern Italy), on the shore of Lake Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...

.

History

Despite the presence of famous cultivations of lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...

s (the meaning of the city's name in Italian), the town's name is probably derived from the ancient lemos (elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...

) or limes (Latin: boundary, referring to the communes of Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

 and the Bishopric of Trento). In 1863-1905 the denomination was Limone San Giovanni.

Until the 1940s the city was reachable only by lake or through the mountains, with the road to Riva del Garda
Riva del Garda
Riva del Garda is a town and comune in the northern Italian province of Trentino. It is also known simply as Riva. The estimated population is 15,151.- History :...

 being built only 1932, but today Limone is one of the most renowned tourist resorts in the area.

Health

In 1979 researchers discovered that people in Limone possess a mutant form of apolipoprotein
Apolipoprotein
Apolipoproteins are proteins that bind lipids to form lipoproteins and transport the lipids through the lymphatic and circulatory systems....

 (called ApoA-1 Milano
ApoA-1 Milano
ApoA-1 Milano is a naturally occurring mutated variant of the apolipoprotein A1 protein found in human HDL, the lipoprotein particle that carries cholesterol from tissues to the liver and is associated with protection against cardiovascular disease. ApoA1 Milano was first identified by Dr...

) in their blood, that induced a healthy form of high-density cholesterol
High density lipoprotein
High-density lipoprotein is one of the five major groups of lipoproteins, which, in order of sizes, largest to smallest, are chylomicrons, VLDL, IDL, LDL, and HDL, which enable lipids like cholesterol and triglycerides to be transported within the water-based bloodstream...

, which resulted in a lowered risk of atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a condition in which an artery wall thickens as a result of the accumulation of fatty materials such as cholesterol...

 and other cardiovascular diseases.

The protein has given residents of the village extreme longevity - a dozen of those living here are over the age of 100 (for c. 1,000 total inhabitants). The origin of the mutation has been traced back to a couple who lived in Limone in the 18th century.

Sources

Official Site
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK