Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis

File:Hungarian suicide rate.png

Suicide rate in Hungary (1950-2005), 1983: 45.3 suicides per 100,000 people, it was the second highest rate (after Lithuania, 1995: 45.6) in recorded human history.

The Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis proposes to link genetic ties originating among Finno-Ugric cultures and ethnicities to high rate of suicide, claiming an allele common among them is responsible.

Mari and Udmurts have been found to have a three times higher suicide rate than Finns and Hungarians. It has been thus theorized that such a possible allele may have arisen in those populations.

However, contrary to the hypothesis, available contemporary (1990-1994) suicide rates were uniformly negatively associated with these ancestry proportions. The findings of this first test outside Europe are therefore conflicting. A proposal based on the geographical study approach is offered to further the progress of investigations into the genetics of suicide.

See also

• Finno-Ugric peoples
• Human genetic variation
• Finnish heritage disease
• Gloomy Sunday
• List of countries by suicide rate

References

• Suicide rate in Lithuania (WHO)
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17165419