Abstract
SUMON is an abbreviation of subacute myelo-optico-neuropathy and is a neurotoxic disease caused by chinof orm which the patients took for their gastrointestinal symptoms. It was prevalent throughout Japan towards the end of 1960s. Total 11, 127 SMON patients were confirmed.
It can be said that SMON is the first illness for which the Japanese Government officially took the strategies in research and treatment of intractable diseases.
In this paper, a short review was made on the history of SMON research, epidemiology, pathogenesis, therapy, the author's own clinical cases and the recent activities of the SMON Research Team in Japan.
