Amish have low cancer rate, but why? | The Columbus Dispatch
The Amish offered a rare opportunity for Dr. Judith Westman and her team. The members of Holmes County's Amish population all descend from 100 original settlers to the area about 200 years ago.
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Better sun block!
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What about non Amish farming families??
There are many more of them in Ohio... Their "lifestyles" are as healthy as the Amish Are their cancer rates the same?? |
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Farming is very dangerous work when done the way the Amish do it. What is their average life span? Maybe they are dying younger and not having enough years to develop cancer.
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Amish don't do drugs like most of us normal people do for starters. They don't eat a lot of chips or order pizza or take their buggies through the McDonald's drive thru.
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Certainly the manual labor helps out, although I have heard some are prone to genetic problems b/c the communities are so small and it is very hard to become Amish.
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Cracow, Poland |
I'd only quibble on the diet point. Amish cuisine is not exactly low-fat, and sodas and other sugary drinks are not uncommon among some Amish, numbers of whom shop at Super Wal Mart and other 'modern' grocery stores. Some Amish eat fast food; the McDonald's at Sugarcreek, Ohio in this community even has a buggy symbol along with the car and camper symbols on its parking sign (see here if you're curious: http://amishamerica.typepad.com/amish_america... )
Though it's probably true that homegrown and less-processed foods are more frequently consumed, some Amish do have poor diets. I think the exercise factor is also important: http://amishamerica.typepad.com/amish_america... |
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It's simple. They don't drink, they don't smoke, they don't eat processed food full of salty fat and they don't sit around all day, they work with their hands.
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It is their lifestyle and diet.
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"...she and her fellow researchers reveal that they found no such markers and instead are left wondering whether the Amish have genetic differences that protect them from cancer."
I find that statement erroneous, considering they looked at cancer REPORTS, not DNA. To say they don't have genetic markers when their DNA wasn't analyzed is wrong. Cancer isn't just genetic; it's environmental, and considering they a) eat non-processed, whole foods, b) get lots of physical activity and c) aren't exposed to constant EMF like mainstream population, it's not surprising they have significantly lower cancer rates. Our lifestyles cause cancer, folks. |
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It's those hats and bonnets!
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Interesting article. No mention of heating with wood and being in a realtively high traffic tourist area. These facts should decrease the fear in the public to cancer risk from particulates.
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They eat all natural foods. No fast food, fried, nothing from a mirowave, frozen etc.
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“Defecting to Mexico” Since: Sep 09
Location hidden |
It's because of a deal they made with Satan.
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Their lifestyles aren't as healthy if they smoke, drink and eat a lot of junk food. Also, it's likely the Amish do more physical work than the typical farming family, due to limited use of technology. And more walking. |
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United States |
Ever seen a bus with Amish on board stop? Tell me they do not smoke! Ah but ever had a smoked Amish ham or bacon? Yummy BLTs that Amish bacon you can take out of a freezer and think it will set off a smoke alarm! Oh yea fresh home grown tomatoes out of you garden, cool green fresh lettuce, real Hellmans Mayo ( not that no fat sissy stuff) smoked Amish this sliced peppered bacon, soft golden toast. T H with with it I am eating it I don't care that it causes cancer supposedly! But yes smoked foods, diesel soot exposure, kerosene fume exposure, wood smoke from cooking and heating, residual pollution from the out side world, according to cancer nuts they should be extinct! |
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This could all be resolved if some Amish residents would just sit down at their computers, log on and share their secrets on this comment board....
Oh, wait. Never mind. |
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Since: Nov 08
Small Town |
The Amish aren't bombarded with drugs for every little malady from big pharma. That by itself will make the difference!
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AOL |
This could explain perhaps the Amish getting tobacco related diseases that aren't caused by tobacco at all since they don't smoke tobacco. No surprise it would be labeled as such. Too many illnesses are called tobacco related that aren't. |
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Alot of Amish men chew tobacco, some even drink. Amish also have a tendancy to be interbred. Not uncommon for a 1st cousin to marry another first cousin.
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Knowing how closed a community the Amish are firsthand, I don't think they would admit to tobacco use to an "English" from the Columbus Dispatch.
I know a good deal of them chew and some smoke, but keep it hidden. Mostly pipes and cigars as "white cigarettes" are considered a little more "worldly". Smoking can get them in trouble with the bishop in their community. I would say their health is a little better perhaps because they don't eat as much processed food. I think the tobacco part of the article is a crock, having been raised in an Amish area myself and witnessed a lot of chewing and spitting and smoking often, also, be it more "behind the barn" and not openly in public. |
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