Seems they should have some answers to something by now.
In studying genetic research on Sjogren's Syndrome I have found that different genes are activated in different races with Sjogrens, there is a huge Chinese population of Sjogren's sufferers, but the gene affected in them is different from the gene activated in Europeans.
In my area Psoriatic Arthritis is the most commonly occurring of the autoimmune arthritis diseases, and most of the people have German and Dutch ancestry.
I do know that there are about 40 different genes that can be affected with CMT, is there a particular race or origin this is most prevalent in?
My neurologist thought she had found a group that matched my brother and mine particular symptoms (CMT coupled with a severe cough that has been going on for over fifteen years, mystifing pulmonologists and ENT drs.) Until she realized that the only group in the medical literature with HNMS-P was an extended family of Okinawans (I hope that is the way you spell it.) My brother and I are Anglo/irish not Japanese.
Until a way to pay for genetic testing is approved we'll just keep guessing.
I had genetic testing done which was paid for in part by medicare and the lab that did the testing. they determined which type of CMT I have...1A but they didn't say anything about what regions. Mine I would assume is European as I got it from my mother who inherited it from her father who was from Yugoslavia. I recently found a distant relative in South Australia with a lot of the same issues we have so I sent a copy of the results from here and they finally agreed to test her as well. Her father was also from Yugoslavia.
On my FTDNA autosomalic geological chart the most colorfull spot is above Finland and the other lighter spot is mainly above Poland and Ukraine,.. on axis Gdansk-Warsaw-Lviv-Odessa. I don't know anyone in the family coming from that direction but maybe my cmt came that way, who knows.
Very interesting responses. I had watched a history channel presentation about the Clovis people found on the Maryland shores, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_culture, and was very surprised to learn just how much the people of that day traveled, all peoples did in fact. They were just as transient as we are today. I've also watched a few shows on genetic testing to determine the continent of origins of volunteers and was just as surprised to see those of dark skin and African features determined to be originating from Asia, and vice versa, those of fair hair and eyes traced to Africa. So perhaps what we can do on paper is merely trivial compared to the actual tests, but it's sometimes all we have to go on!
I know that when my Rheumatologist found that he was also treating a maternal cousin of mine with Psoriatic Arthritis, he jumped from his chair to make notes in records, as he told me the first day it was genetics!