It is amazing to me how much interest this post has generated. But the Amish have always been a source of academic interest because they have to a great extent preserved their way of life in a control culture which is very powerful. I recall studying them as a grad student in Social Work at UCLA and in anthropology classes. 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 09, 2009 11:27 PM To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Amish got PD > Dear James > > Thanks for sharing the very interesting information. I can't comment on > the link between PD and religious group as I do not have no such > experience in Malaysia. > > As far as my country is concerned, overall, genetic factor seems to play > only a minor role in the causation of PD. The percentage of patients with > family history is very small (about 1-2%). And even in familial cases of > PD, it may not be necessarily be genetic factor which is responsible - it > could be a common exposure to the same environmental factor / s. > > I am more in favour of an environmental cause for PD. > > I'd like to share with you the story of two Malaysian Chinese ladies who > developed (idiopathic) Parkinson's after working in a joss paper shop for > about 20 years. Both these ladies were married to the same man (the > manager of the shop). They have no genetic relationship at all. > > Till today, the burning of joss papers is widely practised by the Chinese > for religious purpose. The joss paper has a layer of metallic leaf in the > centre (attached). I sent the metallic leaf to the laboratory at SIRIM > (Standard and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia), which confirmed > that the metallic leaf contained heavy metals such as lead, copper, zinc > and mercury, which has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's. > This case report was subsequently published (Neurological Journal of South > East Asia. Dec 2003. Vol 8. 117-120). > > Dr Chew, Malaysia. > >> Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:06:28 +1000 >> From: [log in to unmask] >> Subject: Re: Amish got PD >> To: [log in to unmask] >> >> (Please ignore the previous copy of this posting - It got away from me >> before it >> could be edited) >> >> I have not seen any data linking any particular religious group to PD, >> but there >> is data on familial types of PD for Sardinian and Japanese groups. If >> indeed >> there is a higher incidence of PD among the Amish, it is possibly a >> familial >> type. On the other hand, it could be just a statistical anomaly. When >> discussing >> prevalence and incidence, it is necessary to not only know the total >> number of >> the subject group who have the disorder, but their age range, and the >> total >> number and age range of the non-PD group. The Amish may be under- or >> over-represented, relevant to the general population. They could just >> have more >> members in the most common PD age-group, i.e., 80+. >> >> The current general theory for the cause of Parkinson's Disease, at least >> for >> the Idiopathic ("unknown cause") variety is that there is a genetic >> pre-disposition to the disease, and that, coupled with a "toxic event", >> triggers >> the development of PD. The so-called toxic event could be a severe blow >> to the >> head, a bout of pneumonia, exposure to agricultural chemicals etc. >> >> In part, this idea came about because of several studies involving a >> number of >> twins. In some cases both twins developed PD, but in other cases, only >> one did. >> If genetics was the only causative factor, then, went the theory, both >> twins >> should develop PD. >> >> Then there were studies of extended families living in the same >> environment. >> Sometimes more than one of the family got PD, sometimes only the one. If >> environmental causes were the only causative factor, then more than one >> person >> in the family should have developed PD. >> >> So there had to be an explanation that satisfied both genetic and >> environmental >> criteria, thus the proposition of "genetic predisposition" PLUS "toxic >> event". >> There is no substantive proof of this theory. >> >> However, when we consider other types of PD, such as juvenile onset >> (about 15 to >> 20) and early onset (about 20 to 40), there has been evidence that there >> are >> autosomal (non-sex) chromosomes involved, both dominant (one copy only of >> the >> altered gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the disorder) and >> recessive >> (two copies of the gene in each cell have been altered). >> >> Several genes have been found to be involved in PD, including the GBA, >> LRRK2, >> PARK2, PARK7, PINK1, SNCA, SNCAIP, and UCHL1 genes. >> >> Among other factors, the herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T have been >> implicated in >> causing PD. >> >> But before we get too far ahead of ourselves in attributing one cause or >> another, we must ask ourselves the question "What causative agents were >> around >> when Dr. James Parkinson (1755-1824), first described the disease in >> Western >> medical terms?" >> >> Not to mention the Ayurveda, the Indian medical doctrine which described >> PD >> about 5000 BC. Then there is the Chinese text "Huang di nei jing su wen" >> about >> 500 BC, the Ancient Greeks Homer 8 BC and Erasistratus , 310-250 BC, >> and >> writers >> such as Celsus, Galen, Dioscorides and several more. It is even said to >> be >> mentioned in the Bible. >> >> Jim >> (Dr James F Slattery PhD Soc Sc) >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: >> mailto:[log in to unmask] >> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > _________________________________________________________________ > With Windows Live, you can organize, edit, and share your photos. > http://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/windows/windowslive/products/photo-gallery-edit.aspx > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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