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Hugh H. Hussey, MD

JAMA. 1976;236(8):960.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Few things are duller Than feeling unspecifically off-color, Yes, you feel like the fulfillment of a dismal prophecy, And you don't feel either exercisey or officey...

Ogden Nash

At any time of year, when a person ails vaguely in the head or the belly, or aches for no apparent reason and feels somewhat feverish, and mentions his symptoms to a friend or an acquaintance, the afflicted one is likely to hear, "Oh yes, there's a lot of that going around just now." The "that" remains as undefined as the sufferer's symptoms are ill-defined. The statement usually is made convincingly and consolingly, in an effort to reassure or with belief in the adage, "Misery loves company."

Often, "that," offered as the sole diagnosis, does reassure and works wonders therapeutically when swallowed with a couple of aspirin tablets or the patient's favorite brand of sedative. Other times, "that" is not enough.

For . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Excerpts from Bed Riddance: A Posy for the Indisposed. Copyright © 1940, 1967, 1968 by Ogden Nash. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

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