DISCOVERY & CONFIRMATION
D C
THE MIRACLE OF VíAVIENTÉ
21
iscovery
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onfirmation
When Dr. Eugene H. Payne’s article about the Vilcabamban region was published in Reader’s Digest in 1954, it sparked an avalanche of scientific interest in the area. Dr. Payne had traveled there to investigate the story of a British engineer who had retired to Loja to spend his few remaining years in the Province. Though high blood pressure had severely damaged his heart, surprisingly, Payne found him in good health. The man reported to Payne that as long as he stayed in Loja he seemed well, but whenever he left the region, his blood pressure zoomed and his heart gave him trouble. Dr. Payne also noted that heart disease was almost unknown among the inhabitants of the 4400 square mile province. 1 In 1969, Dr. Miguel Salvador, an internationally known cardiologist living in Quito, became interested in Vilcabamba after hearing reports that residents there never suffered heart attacks. He undertook a major research project in the area on behalf of the Ecuadorian government, surveying 340 randomly selected Vilcabambans of all ages. Of all the villagers Dr. Salvador surveyed, only one showed signs of having a weak heart. Dr. Salvador reported a high proportion of villagers over the age of 65, however, it was their level of physical activity that caught his attention: “I was impressed, however; not because people were living to be more than 100, but because they were so active, with minds and bodies you’d expect in men and women who were 60 or 70.” Salvador’s findings were published in 1972 in an Ecuadorian paper titled “Vilcabamba: Tierra de Longevos.” ²
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