Mustn't Grumble

A fascinating and insightful book about the multitude of minor ailments that humans live with every day of the year, and what we can learn about them. When was the last time you enjoyed a day of perfect health? A day when there was nothing - absolutely nothing - wrong with you?Most of us feel slightly out of sorts a great deal of the time; maybe even every day. However, we often just regard our minor ailments as little more than what doctors would call a cervicalgia - a pain in the neck. But this book shows they deserve much more attention and respect.Covering 100 ailments, Graham Lawton explains the latest scientific thinking about everything from blackheads to chilblains; dead legs to haemorrhoids; ear wax to hiccups; and hay fever to heat stroke. It's a mixture of science, medicine, anecdotes and history and provides practical information about each ailment. Understanding a little more about minor ailments should help us to get better faster - and maybe even avoid them in the first place. So, mustn't grumble. After all, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. '...an unexpected literary genre: the compulsively readable medical reference book. You start with the things that currently plague you, and then you keep on reading, happily passing entire afternoons absorbed in the odd and revolting things our bodies serve up...If laughter is the best medicine, a dose of Lawton ought to cure most of this stuff.' Mary RoachOne of the many strange effects of the 2020 pandemic has been to make us much more vigilant about the state of our health in general and about minor symptoms in particular. And this, in turn, has made us more conscious that we all feel slightly out of sorts a great deal of the time; maybe even every day. This book is not about what happens when we're ill with something sufficiently serious to send us to the doctor or confine us to bed. Instead, it focuses on the multitude of mild, irksome, distracting illnesses, aches and pains with which we all put up with constantly. Covering 120 ailments, Graham explains the latest scientific thinking about everything from blackheads to chilblains; dead legs to haemorrhoids; ear wax to hiccups; and hay fever to heat stroke. It's a mixture of science and history, with a light touch, and provides practical information about each ailment for the reader.