My wife is a nurse who was raised in the Philippines. To the best of her memory*, she doesn't recall ever hearing of problems with osteophorsis (sp), Parkinsons, and many other diseases associated with the elderly affecting Filipinos. She believes Americans are over medicated and that may be a contibuting factor. We have this "a pill for every ill" attitude towards medicine. Many times, if someone goes to a doctor with a complaint and doesn't leave with a prescription, they feel somehow cheated, even if the prescription doesn't do any good (such as antibiotics for a viral infection).

There could also be other factors, such as food additives, diet, and life style. Tom's original post pointed out that if the problem was genetic, then it frequency of occurence would be pretty much the same regardless of location. Japan is a highly industrialized nation that also has issues with pollution, so if the occurence is lower there then it would suggest the causes may not be environmental unless the Japanese people are somehow more resistant to pollution. If that were the case, then Japanese people in other countries would show a lower occurence of illness. Puzzling.

*I keep reminding her that just because she didn't hear of these problems, that isn't conclusive evidence of their absence. For example, people afflicted with those problems might've dropped out of sight.