What Are the Causes of Unexplained Pain?

Originating in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, from the beginning of the 20th century, local poor growth of rice was found in the area. Another strange disease appeared in 1931. The patients were mostly women. The symptoms were pain in the joints of the waist, hands and feet. After the illness lasts for several years, neuralgia and bone pain will occur in all parts of the patient's body, difficulty in movement, and even breathing will bring unbearable pain. In the later stages of the disease, the patient's bones softened and atrophied, the limbs were bent, the spine deformed, and the bones were fragile. Even coughing could cause fractures. Patients can't eat, and the pain is so great, they often yell "It hurts!" "It hurts!" Some people committed suicide because they couldn't bear the pain. The disease is thus called "Bone Cancer" or "Itai-Itai Disease".

Painful disease

Originating in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, from the beginning of the 20th century, local poor growth of rice was found in the area. Another strange disease appeared in 1931. The patients were mostly women. The symptoms were pain in the joints of the waist, hands and feet. After the illness lasts for several years, it will happen in all parts of the patient's body

Painful illness first occurred in Japan

In 1955, a strange disease appeared in some areas along the Shinto River in Japan. At the beginning, people only felt pain in the joints of the waist, back, and knees after working. You can get better after a break or bath. But after a few years, the pain spreads throughout the body, and people's normal activities are restricted, which means that they feel unbearable pain when they are out of breath. Human bones are softened, the body is atrophied, and the bones are severely deformed.

According to epidemiological data, the disease has begun to appear in the Taisho era in Japan and has long been considered a special endemic disease of unknown cause. It was not until after World War II that the number of cases increased, and in August 1946, Changze officially reported the case. In 1955, Kono and Takino were referred to as painful reports in the report, and later published in the "Toyama Daily" on August 4, 1955 under the title "A strange disease in the Kumano area of Fuchu-cho". In 1957, Takino and others proposed the theory of mineral poisoning, which may be related to lead, zinc, and cadmium in the mining wastewater upstream. It was confirmed in 1960 that the cause was cadmium poisoning. In December of that year, the Toyama Prefecture Local Special Diseases Countermeasure Committee was established. Then, in 1963 and 1965, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Welfare and the Ministry of Education organized a special research team to conduct investigations. Through more than ten years of epidemiology, clinical, and pathology, As well as in-depth and detailed research work in animal experiments and other aspects, various hypotheses have been ruled out. In 1968, "painful disease" was confirmed and pointed out that chronic poisoning caused by cadmium. Its physical and chemical properties cause it to replace calcium ions and combine with negative ions in the body, leading to decalcification in bones due to increased cadmium content, causing severe skeletal looseness. It first damages the kidneys and then causes osteomalacia. It is a disease formed under the influence of pregnancy, breastfeeding, endocrine disorders, aging and calcium deficiency.

The disease was caused by the cadmium-containing beneficiation wastewater and tailings slag of a lead-zinc mine in the upper reaches of Shentong River, which polluted the river water, contaminated the paddy soil irrigated with river water downstream, and produced "cadmium rice". People ate "cadmium rice" and drink for a long time Ill with cadmium-containing water. As a result, "pain" has been designated as the number one public hazard in Japan.