RootsWeb: Melungeon-L medical survey question

"The survey referred to by Mctill2109 comes from Dr. Marie Boutte of the University of Nevada-Reno. She studies genetic diseases, particularly
Machado-Joseph Disease. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the concept of 'Melungeon diseases.' Rather, Machado-Joseph seems to be
almost excusive to Portuguese from the Azores; thus, if it showed up in Melungeon populations, it would pretty much prove Portuguese ancestry
for at least some of our ancestors. Of course, absence of the disease in this population would not disprove Portuguese ancestry, since the vast
majority of Portuguese don't have it. Dr. Boutte is working with MHA to conduct this survey; the mailing list is made up of people who have
signed up to receive mail from MHA. As we have stated before, MHA does not endorse the idea of 'Melungeon diseases;' we are, however,
interested in anything that might indicate the origin of some of our ancestors. Since the idea of Portuguese ancestry has been associated
with the Melungeons since the mid 19th century, this is certainly a worthwhile avenue to explore.



Wayne Winkler"