Reply #13: A friend of mine is a rheumatologist, [View All]

and his practice, oddly enough, includes a whole lot of Amish, who hire drivers to bring them to his office in Northern Virginia for their appointments - a very long drive for a doctor's appointment, all the way from Pennsylvania. So, they don't entirely do without cars, since they have no qualms about paying for one when they need to.

But they like him. Have had him into their homes as a guest, and welcomed him almost as one of their own.

He knows a whole lot about them, but one of the things I remember he told me was that they are plagued by autoimmune disorders - of all kinds. He has a great research background, and he theorized that there's a certain amount of inbreeding that goes on among these folks, and, consequently, the human systems begin to break down and malfunction.

His Amish patients take the drugs that all his non-Amish patients take, so they do avail themselves of the fruits of the modern technology they appear to eschew

They also lose teeth early in life, their diets being so horribly high in refined sugar.

And they always pay him in cash.

Odd stuff, but just enough to assure me that they're hardly exemplary.......................