This Vital Signs column originally appeared in the December issue of Discover magazine as "Anything but Predictable." Support our science journalism by becoming a subscriber.
Curled up in misery, the 50-year-old man croaked out a few words. “Still bad, doc.”
The man’s chief complaint had been nausea and vomiting. His condition prompted my favorite doctor trick: Take someone sick as the proverbial dog — retching, defecating, cramping — pump in IV anti-nausea meds and a few bags of saline, steep a few hours, and voila! New person. Given the ubiquity of stomach viruses and food poisoning, we see these unfortunate cases every day. Admittedly, bad things like sepsis and bowel obstruction can trigger vomiting. But for such a dramatic symptom, it’s considered benign until proven otherwise.
So when Brian didn’t get better, I took it personally. His blood pressure also had spiked and wasn’t coming down as expected.
