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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