Is the body's uranium the cause of bends

The symptoms of the 'bends' and its more serious forms the 'staggers' and the 'chokes', are briefly described. It has been found that 6% of divers and nearly 19% of others who breathe compressed air are affected by changes in bone structure and density, mostly near the hip, knee and shoulder joints, which may reach a disabling degree. The mechanism of formation of the the bubbles of helium or nitrogen which cause the 'bends', and whose whose restriction of blood flow is believed tocause the bone deterioration, is uncertain. It is suggested here that the energy required to initiate bubble formation, of the order of several MeV, may come from the spontaneous fission of uranium traces in the body. It is significant that the distribution of uranium in the body is similar to that of the bone deterioration. (JIW)