Kashin-Beck disease: a historical overview

In 1919, the first report on Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) made by a Japanese doctor described an endemic occurrence in the northern district of Korea. In the 1930s, Dr. Takamori and his colleagues at Manchuria Medical College produced a series of reports on its endemiology, clinical and roentgenological findings observed in the north-eastern district of China. In 1940s, a Tokyo University group led by Dr. Ogata found that the salivary glands of KBD patients were markedly degenerated. Administration of the condensed water taken from the endemic area into experimental rats produced degeneration of the salivary glands and changes in bones and joints similar to those of KBD. Thus, they proposed parotin deficiency theory as the etiology of KBD, and they recommended parotin therapy for KBD in its early stage. In the 1950s, Dr. Takizawa and his colleagues at Chiba University demonstrated that ferulic acid and p-hydroxy-cinnamic acid, found in the drinking water in the endemic area, caused degeneration of the salivary gland in rats. They recommended boiling the drinking water or using activated charcoal for the prevention of KBD. In the 1970s, the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare made a nationwide survey for the incidence of KBD in Japan. They concluded that there was no case of KBD in Japan with the exception of a few patients who had been brought up in the northeastern district of China and later had moved to Japan.