NK I don't know, but your explanation sounds quite plausible. It is doubtful that the Amish community has a very diverse gene pool. And as far as I know, cousins can marry in the US. Ray Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] -------------------------------------------------- From: "chew nee kong" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 2:30 AM To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Amish got PD > Dear Ray > > Could this high prevalence of PD be due to genetic factor such as cousin > marriage? I heard that cousin marriage is legal in some parts of the US. > > Dr Chew > >> Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 09:53:01 -0700 >> From: [log in to unmask] >> Subject: Amish got PD >> To: [log in to unmask] >> >> >> from Viartis: >> >> 1st August 2009 - New research >> THE WORLD'S HIGHEST PREVALENCE OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE >> Neuroepidemiology [2009] 33 (3) : 225-230 (Racette BA, Good LM, Kissel >> AM, >> Criswell SR, Perlmutter JS.) Complete abstract >> >> The world's highest prevalence of Parkinson's Disease by far has been >> found >> among the Amish religious community, where Parkinson's Disease is two to >> three times more prevalent than anywhere else in the world. >> The Amish are primarily in the North East of the U.S.A. They are a >> devoutly >> religious community who believe in the literal interpretation of the >> Bible. >> They segregate themselves from other communities, wear traditional >> clothes, >> and live a traditional lifestyle that does not permit the use of >> electricity, television, radio, or telephones. For transport they use >> horses >> and carriages instead of cars, which they are not allowed to use. Most >> speak >> a German dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch. For more information click >> here and here, and for a brief video of their lifestyle click here. >> >> The prevalence of Parkinson's Disease amongst the Amish aged 60 or older >> has >> been found to be 5,703 per 100,000, which is enormously high. According >> to >> U.N.Data, 17% of the U.S. population is aged 60 or older. So the >> prevalence >> of Parkinson's Disease in the Amish community as a whole is 970 per >> 100,000. This is by far the highest prevalence of Parkinson's Disease in >> the >> world, and around three times the prevalence of the U.S.A., despite the >> U.S.A having the highest prevalence of any country. For more information >> go >> to the Prevalence of Parkinson's Disease. The Amish refuse to take out >> health insurance. They are also afflicted by genetic disorders. So it was >> thought that the cause might be genetic. However, the more closely >> related >> they were, the less they were affected. They are primarily involved in >> agriculture, and most of them use pesticides, but the effect of >> pesticides >> was not assessed by the researchers. In order to refer to this article on >> its own click here. >> >> Rayilyn Brown >> Director AZNPF >> Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation >> [log in to unmask] >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: >> mailto:[log in to unmask] >> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > _________________________________________________________________ > Share your memories online with anyone you want. > http://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/windows/windowslive/products/photos-share.aspx?tab=1 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn