Mustn't Grumble

‘…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 Roach

One 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.

Author Biography

Graham Lawton is a senior staff writer and columnist at New Scientist magazine and the writer behind two New Scientist books which have been published by John Murray: The Origin of (Almost) Everything (2018) and This Book Could Save Your Life: The Science of Living Longer Better (2020). He has a BSc in biochemistry and an MSc in science communication, both from Imperial College, London. He lives in London.