Background: My Polish wife comes from a family where everybody lives 90 to 100 years. Very healthy and long lived people. Now, I am a Type 2 diabetic since age 15. For the past 3 years, my wife is suddenly diabetic. There is no diabetes in her entire extended family. Never have been, not ever. Her sister was an RN nurse for thirty years before getting breast cancer and being forced to retire. Nobody in that extended family has ever had breast cancer. ------------------------------------------- This got me wondering about how one acquires a 'hereditary' disease. Is it really hereditary, diet, environmental or could it be from exposure? My mom was diabetic. Did I inherit it (common wisdom) or could it be transmissible? Nobody believes that one catches diabetes. Same with breast cancer. But what if we're wrong? The nurse dealt with cancer patients for decades. I dealt with a diabetic mother my entire childhood. My wife dealt with me for 25 years. I am probably mistaken, but I do find these anomalies to be noteworthy. So my question for all of you is: Do any of you ever see indications of diseases transmitted inexplicably to people by exposure? Keep in mind, everything most people believe about health comes from a (((possibly biased))) medical industry. What say you?