10 Of The Best Places To Live Abroad:
By Suzy Strutner

Most of us have a deep, sneaking dream to just quit everything and go abroad. 

And if you’re going to make the scene change permanent, Switzerland is apparently
the best place to do so. The country ranked first on HSBC’s annual Expat Explorer
survey, which polled nearly 9,300 expats around the world — people who actually live
the dream! — about the quality of life, financial well-being and ease of raising a
family in their new homes abroad. 

Switzerland’s work-life balance earned especially high marks in the survey, which
included 34 countries. And it’s just one of many accolades: Switzerland also ranked
high on this summer’s Expat Insider report from expat community site InterNations.
That survey asked expats in 61 countries to rate their experience in areas like
personal finances and ease of settling in — Switzerland ranked first for “quality of
life,” aka the ideal blend of leisure options, travel and transportation, health and
safety and personal happiness.

In an interesting twist, Ecuador lead the InterNations list as the top expat
destination overall. “Expats are generally very pleased with their financial
situation in Ecuador,” the report reads. Respondents also said it was easy to settle
in and make friends in the South American hotspot.

Asia also has some of the best places for expats to live — 76 percent of expats in
the HSBC survey said they have more disposable income since moving to China,
according to a press release. Hong Kong and Singapore placed in the top 10 of both
surveys, with stellar scores for general quality of life from InterNations.

Considering a move (or just looking for a good daydream)? Here are some of the top
places for expats, 2014.

New Zealand
HSBC rank: 6
InterNations rank: 16

 

Heart Disease:

By ELAINE ST. PETER

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In a new study
from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School published in the April
26 issue of JAMA, researchers found that women who work more than 10 years of
rotating night shift work had a 15 to 18 percent increased risk of developing
coronary heart disease, the most common type of heart disease, as compared with
women who did not work rotating night shifts.

“There are a number of known risk factors for coronary heart disease, such as
smoking, poor diet, lack of physical activity and elevated body mass index. These
are all critical factors when thinking how to prevent coronary heart disease.
However, even after controlling for these risk factors, we still saw an increased
risk of coronary heart disease associated with rotating shift work,” said lead
author Celine Vetter, an HMS instructor in medicine and a chronobiologist at Brigham
and Women’s. “Even though the absolute risk is small and the contribution of shift
work to coronary heart disease is modest, it is important to note that this is a
modifiable risk factor, and changing shift schedules may have an impact on the
prevention of coronary heart disease.”

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Researchers examined the association between rotating night shift work and coronary
heart disease over a period of 24 years. About 189,000 women in the Nurses’ Health
Study I and II who reported their lifetime exposure to rotating night shift work
(defined as three or more night shifts per month, in addition to day and evening
shifts) in 1988 and 1989 were included in the analysis.

These women also reported on their coronary health, indicating whether they had an
angiogram that confirmed coronary heart disease-related chest pain, a heart attack
or cardiovascular procedures such as angioplasty, coronary artery bypass graft
surgery or stents. 

In the case of a self-reported heart attack, or death, information was confirmed by
medical records and death certificates to ensure that the event was related to
coronary heart disease.

Questionnaires also collected data on known risk factors of coronary heart disease
every two to four years throughout the study period. Over the 24-year period, more
than 10,000 newly developed cases of coronary heart disease occurred.

In addition, researchers also found that recent shift work might be most relevant
for coronary heart disease risk and that longer time since stopping shift work was
associated with decreased coronary heart disease risk, a new finding that
researchers note warrants replication.

“Our results are in line with other findings, yet it is possible that different
schedules might carry a different risk, and we have very little information on exact
schedules, as well as work start and end times,” said Vetter, who is also an
associate epidemiologist in the Channing Division of Network Medicine. “We believe
that the results from our study underline the need for future research to further
explore the relationship between shift schedules, individual characteristics and
coronary health to potentially reduce coronary heart disease risk.”

Researchers note that individual characteristics such as the individual’s biological
rhythm, disrupted in rotating night shift workers, and information on sleep patterns
and quality might modulate coronary heart disease risk.

Warren Buffett: The Giving Pledge:

By LUCAS JACKSON

Throughout history, many of the richest of the rich have felt a responsibility to help the less fortunate.

Billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett has taken the call to action a step further by asking billionaires to follow his lead.

By signing The Giving Pledge, created by Buffett, billionaires make a public promise to dedicate most of their wealth to philanthropy.

To date, there have been more than 125 pledgers from around the world, many of them high-profile philanthropists and self-made titans.

Here is are some of the signers:

Pledger: Bill Gates, co-founder, Microsoft

Estimated net worth: Around $81 billion

Pledged to give away: “We have committed the vast majority of our assets to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” wrote the Gateses in their pledge letter.

Charities: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports ending extreme poverty and poor health in developing countries, and is working to help America’s education system.

Pledger: Larry Ellison, co-founder, Oracle