Minamata Disease is a sobering reminder of the dangers of unregulated industries in modern times, a purely human-created disease. It was first seen in 1956 in the children living in Minamata City on the coast of Japan’s southern island of Kyūshū. Medically, it’s a severe neurological syndrome with symptoms including loss of muscle control, loss of feeling in hands and feet, tunnel vision, deafness, and speech abnormalities. Within a few weeks of onset, extreme cases tragically end with paralysis, convulsions, coma and eventually death. In pregnant women, it can also lead to horrible birth defects. But what exactly did humans do to create such a terrible disease?
