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)
>
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