Some forms of chronic pain are particularly mysterious | China banned seafood from Japan. Some tourists are eating it in Tokyo. | It’s been called ‘the greatest museum of prehistoric art’—but few tourists know it exists

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Don't like ads? Go ad-free with TradeBriefs Premium Some forms of chronic pain are particularly mysterious - The Economist    When she was only 14, Catherine Charlwood noticed a swelling in her right forearm. It was accompanied by a heavy muscular ache that made daily activities difficult. As a talented clarinettist at a British school where regular practice was on the timetable, the pain was deeply worrying. She was told it was repetitive strain injury, and would disappear within six weeks. When those weeks had gone and the pain remained, she was diagnosed with tendonitis. She did her best to make do, minimising her music practice and learning to write with her left hand. Eventually, when playing the clarinet was no longer feasible, she had to leave the school. When the pain continued past the six months which is typical of tendonitis, doctors recommended surgery. “Each time they opened me up, what they were looking for wasn’t there,” she says. The second of those procedures, intended to relieve pressure on her radial nerve, actively made things worse. Since then, she occasionally experiences what feels like electricity crackling down the scar left by the procedure. “The volume can turn up, and it can turn up a lot, but it doesn’t turn down,” she says. Further diagnoses have come and gone, but the true origins of her pain remain mysterious. Chronic pain, however it is experienced by people, is an enormous problem (see chart). As opposed to acute pain, which is a short-lived response to a dangerous or noxious event, chronic pain is widely defined as lasting for three months or longer. It has no discernible evolutionary purpose and often no identifiable trigger. It is best thought of as a disease, one that affects around 30% of the world’s population and carries with it a significant economic cost, in medical treatment, lost labour productivity and caregiving. Around one in ten of those affected are estimated to have disabling pain, making it the leading cause of disability worldwide. Continued here China banned seafood from Japan. Some tourists are eating it in Tokyo. - The Japan Times    When Japan began to release treated water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean last week, China and Hong Kong were quick to ban seafood from Japan. Even though tests of seawater from near Fukushima Prefecture conducted since the release have shown that tritium — the radioactive material that remains after the treatment process — is under detectable levels, opposition in neighboring countries, including China and South Korea, remains strong. Yet Chinese and Hong Kong tourists visiting Japan largely seem unfazed about eating sushi and seafood in Japan — unlike their respective governments — following the water discharge, with many local seafood restaurants seeing little impact so far. Continued here It's been called 'the greatest museum of prehistoric art'—but few tourists know it exists - National Geographic (Travel)    In the Algerian desert, dazzling alfresco galleries provide an eloquent record of ancient civilizations. Here’s how you can visit. Few people will have heard of the remote Tassili N’Ajjer National Park, even though it is the largest national park in Africa. Located in the southeast corner of Algeria, it comprises the remnants of a vast Precambrian sandstone plateau, extending across 2,780 square miles of the central Sahara, bordering Libya and Niger. The region is a geological wonderland of uncanny rock formations lapped by orange dunes. Eons of erosion have sharpened the sandstone into pinnacles, worn apertures through high escarpments, and sculpted outcrops into surreal and zoomorphic forms. The park is thought to contain over 300 natural arches alone. Continued here

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