Lead, Manganese, and Methylmercury as Risk Factors for Neurobehavioral Impairment in Advanced Age

Table 3

Scope of methylmercury poisoning experienced in Japan beginning in the 1950s. This syndrome became known as Minamata Disease. Later, when the effects of prenatal exposure became evident, a new category, Fetal Minamata Disease, was established.

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SENSORY

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(i) Paresthesia (numbness and tingling)

(ii) Pain in limbs

(iii) Visual disturbances (field constriction)

(iv) Hearing disturbances

(v) Asterognosis (discrimination by touch)

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MOTOR

(i) Disturbances of gait

(ii) Weakness, leg unsteadiness, falling

(iii) Thick, slurred speed (dysarthria)

(iv) Tremor

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OTHER

Headaches, rashes, “mental disturbance”

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