I wondered whether it would be at all useful say to compare a community like the Amish, with their own particulars lifestyles, geographic conditions etc., with say the Parsee community in India, who also have high rates of PD, and are also in some ways similar to the Amish, both communities that are under stress from the outside, and to some extent shrinking in some way. By this I mean that their customs and beliefs are threatened by a fast-changing world in which their long held traditions are less easy to maintain. Just a thought........

I remember reading a scientific article about men who worked in other countries to those where they were born, not as emigrants, but as temporary workers, and the high levels of sudden death from heart attack at young ages. The statistics are there, but no organic cause linked them, just the fact that they were transplanted from their home environments. So these deaths were categorised as being related to emotional stress, even though they were mainly working on contracts up to 5 years........so they were expecting to go home. If these things, dislocation, disassociation from community could cause heart attacks, how does this translate say into communities under stress, which could mean anything from a specific ethic or cultural group, to say a township or city dying from economic issues, or changes in farming practice, add other stressors like chemicals, and PD ............again I really think that the PD register when it materialises, and hopefully there will be ones in many countries, will shed light on issues like these....... we already know that stress is a contributing factor......

Lindy