Health among the Amish

Health among the Amish is characterized by higher incidences of particular

While the Amish are at an increased risk for some genetic disorders, researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) have found their tendency for clean living can lead to better health. Overall cancer rates in the Amish are 60 percent of the age-adjusted rate for Ohio and 56 percent of the national rate. Tobacco-related cancers in Amish adults are 37 percent and non-tobacco-related cancers are 72 percent of the rate for Ohio adults. The Amish are protected against many types of cancer both through their lifestyle—there is very little tobacco or alcohol use and limited sexual partners—and through genes that may reduce their susceptibility to cancer. Dr. Judith Westman, director of human genetics at OSUCCC – James, conducted the study. The findings were reported in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Causes & Control. Even skin cancer rates are lower for Amish, despite the fact many Amish make their living working outdoors where they are exposed to sunlight and UV rays. They are typically covered and dressed to work in the sun by wearing wide-brimmed hats and long sleeves which protect their skin.^[7]

The Amish are conscious of the advantages of exogamy. A common bloodline in one community will often be absent in another, and genetic disorders can be avoided by choosing spouses from unrelated communities. For example, the founding families of the Lancaster County Amish are unrelated to the founders of the Perth County, Ontario Amish community. Because of a smaller gene pool, some groups have increased incidences of certain inheritable conditions.^[8]

The Old Order Amish do not typically carry private commercial health insurance.^[9][10] About two-thirds of the Amish in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County participate in Church Aid, an informal self-insurance plan for helping members with catastrophic medical expenses.^[9] A handful of American hospitals, starting in the mid-1990s, created special outreach programs to assist the Amish. The first of these programs was instituted at the Susquehanna Health System in central Pennsylvania by James Huebert. This program has earned national media attention in the United States, and has spread to several surrounding hospitals.^[11][12] Treating genetic problems is the mission of Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, which has developed effective treatments for such problems as maple syrup urine disease, a previously fatal disease. The clinic is embraced by most Amish, ending the need for parents to leave the community to receive proper care for their children, an action that might result in shunning.

DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children, located in Middlefield, Ohio, has been treating special-needs children with inherited or metabolic disorders since May 2002.^[13] The DDC Clinic provides treatment, research, and educational services to Amish and non-Amish children and their families.

The prevalence of

Most Amish clearly seem to use some form of birth control, a fact that generally is not discussed among the Amish, but indicated by the fact that the number of children systematically increases in correlation with the conservatism of a congregation, the more conservative, the more children. The large number of children is due to the fact that many children are appreciated by the community and not because there is no birth control.^[15] Some communities openly allow access to birth control to women whose health would be compromised by childbirth.^[16] The Amish are against abortion and also find "artificial insemination, genetics, eugenics, and stem cell research" to be "inconsistent with Amish values and beliefs".^[17]

People's Helpers is an Amish-organized network of mental health caregivers who help families dealing with mental illness and recommend professional counselors.^[18] Suicide rates for the Amish of Lancaster County were 5.5 per 100,000 in 1980, about half that of the general population.^[a]

Notes

References