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Thought I'd add the ethnic material here, since you've asked. My husband was born in Greece of naturalized American-citizen parents. He was repatriated to the State just after World War II, but suffered the starvation many in Southern Europe experienced. (They gave him a few months to learn English, and then sent him to Korea before the conflict, so he has also served in the U.S. Army) Greece had a particularly bad time in regard to starvation and disease during WWII. Though an American citizen, he is ethnically Greek on both sides. He has never been a heavy drinker (very little in the way of grain spirits), though wine with meals is a common though not daily indulgence. I can honestly say he has probably never been drunk, through I remember once (in 42 years together) his getting dizzy on port. He doesn't fit everyone's model, but the starvation diet (no meat or sugar for two years when he was 10-12 years old), could have weakened something. So much for our sample! k. >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 > > ====================================================================== Mrs. Karin M. Beros, MSO [log in to unmask] International and Area Studies voice: (510) 642-8542 Office of the Dean, 260 Stephens Hall fax: (510) 642-9466 Mail Code 2300 ======================================================================