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I am also of English/Irish/German (i.e., mostly British) descent. I don't know how the incidence rates compare, but I do know that those from other cultures do also get pd. Does anyone have data on geographic & nationality distributions for pd. I have heard that in the case of certain cancers, the rate of incidence in Japan is perhaps 80% less. This may be partly due to genetic factors, but sometimes when people from other cultures like these come to western countries and adopt our lifestyles (esp. diet), the rate of incidence begins creeping up to a level on par with ours. So the question of nationality should also be tied to lifestyle, which is somewhat cultural/geographic in origin. It is only natural that those from colder cllimes eat more meat and heavy foods, and those from warmer climes eat more fresh fruits/vegetables. My neurologist once, when I posed a similar question, said that there is a slight north/south gradient (north worse), and also, more cases of men than women (sexual in nature, or again lifestyle? Men eat more meat, and until more recently were the primary wage-earners and thus probably exposed to more industrial chemicals). And the list goes on... One thing I found interesting is that humans are the only ones to "naturally" suffer from pd, the ability to use animal models is recent and the symptoms are caused by exposures to MTPT. Boy, I bet all those animals thank those college kids for "discovering" MTPT, since they had never experienced pd before (couldn't the fact that humans only naturally get it give clues as to its origin?) Wendy