If you suddenly began having trouble sleeping how might the pineal gland be involved

The pineal gland is in charge of producing melatonin which regulates your body's rhythms (including your circadian rhythm, a rhythm that tells your body if it is night or daytime). This would cause your body to think it is earlier than it actually is, keeping you awake.

Ithink it was the japanese americans

The answer you're looking for is washing your hands. "at this late date, we all expect our doctors to wash their hands before examining us or performing an operation in order to prevent the spread of infection. surprisingly, physicians did not begin to acknowledge the lifesaving power of this simple act until 1847.it was then that dr. semmelweis began exhorting his fellow physicians at the famed vienna general hospital (allgemeines krankenhaus) to wash up before examining women about to deliver babies. his plea was far more than aesthetic; it was a matter of life and death and to prevent a deadly malady known as “childbed” or puerperal (from the latin words for child and parent) fever."