Minamata disease, a neurological syndrome with symptoms including ataxia, numbness, general weakness, narrowing of vision and damage to hearing and speech, and even insanity, paralysis, coma and death within weeks, is caused by severe poisoning by what?
Minamata disease Minamata disease , sometimes referred to as , is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Signs and symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma, and death follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms. A congenital form of the disease can also affect fetuses in the womb. Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, in 1956. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's
Chisso the area were inflicted with what is now known as Minamata disease. 1,784 of those victims died as a result of the poisoning and/or the disease. Those who were afflicted with the disease developed skeletomuscular deformities and lost the ability to perform motor functions such as walking. Many also lost significant amounts of vision, as well as hearing and speech capabilities. Severe cases presented with insanity, paralysis, coma and then death within weeks of the onset of symptoms. As of March 2001, over 10,000 individuals had received financial remuneration from Chisso to compensate them for the harm caused by the