Everyday aches: Why it’s time to take minor ailments more seriously

There’s a lot that can go slightly wrong with the human body and most of the time science can’t explain why. But even our unremarkable illnesses deserve closer inspection

By Graham Lawton

FOR a few months last year, I broke the habit of a lifetime and started keeping a diary. I hadn’t taken a sudden interest in recording my innermost thoughts, I was conducting a scientific-experiment-cum-book-project. I called it my “Mustn’t Grumble” diary; every evening, I noted down all of my minor health woes from that day.

Keeping a record confirmed what I had suspected – that I’m constantly slightly ill. Highlights included a cold, a twitchy eyelid that drove me nuts for three days and a terrifying loss of taste and smell. There was also the tedious matter of my chronically …