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Summary
- A 2010 study of 9,992 Amish adults in Holmes County, Ohio, found a cancer rate of 389.5 per 100,000 person-years from 1996 to 2003, 60 percent of the rate among other white Ohioans.
- Cancers linked to tobacco occurred at 37 percent of the Ohio rate; only 17.6 percent of Amish men in the settlement used tobacco, and no Amish women.
- Cancers not linked to tobacco were also less common, at 72 percent of the Ohio rate, and the authors said tobacco alone cannot explain the gap.
- The Amish in the study ate fewer vegetables and more saturated fat than their neighbors, so diet does not account for the difference.
- Amish adults are screened for cancer far less often, and their breast and colorectal cancers were more often found at an advanced stage.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Judith A. Westman, Amy K. Ferketich, Ross M. Kauffman, et al., “Low cancer incidence rates in Ohio Amish,” Cancer Causes & Control 21, no. 1 (2010): 69–75. doi:10.1007/s10552-009-9435-7. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4308689/
- Amy K. Ferketich, Mira L. Katz, Ross M. Kauffman, et al., “Tobacco use among the Amish in Holmes County, Ohio,” Journal of Rural Health 24, no. 1 (2008): 84–90. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18257875/
- Mira L. Katz, Amy K. Ferketich, Electra D. Paskett, et al., “Cancer screening practices among Amish and non-Amish adults living in Ohio Appalachia,” Journal of Rural Health 27, no. 3 (2011): 302–309. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3130935/
- Gebra B. Cuyun Carter, Mira L. Katz, et al., “Dietary intake, food processing, and cooking methods among Amish and non-Amish adults living in Ohio Appalachia: relevance to nutritional risk factors for cancer,” Nutrition and Cancer 63, no. 8 (2011): 1208–1217. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3800012/
- H. Troyer, “Review of cancer among 4 religious sects: evidence that life-styles are distinctive sets of risk factors,” Social Science & Medicine 26, no. 10 (1988): 1007–1017. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3393918/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, Elizabethtown College, “Health,” Amish Studies. https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/cultural-practices/health/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Mutual Aid,” Amish Studies. https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/cultural-practices/mutual-aid/
- Third Way, “Health,” Mennonite glossary. https://thirdwaycafe.com/glossary/health/
- Job 1:21 is referred to as the source of the saying Third Way quotes; in the King James Version the verse reads “the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
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