It's better if it hurts.

The article reports on hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies, a group of diseases caused by genetic mutations that tend to effect people in Quebec and Newfoundland. HSAN causes sufferers to be incapable of feeling pain in their lower extremities. What may at first seem like a blessing can be dangerous, as people unknowingly walk around on broken bones and unhealed injuries. Researchers believe that the disease may have helped the original French settlers to the area withstand the winter.